diff -r 06473da99270 configure.in
--- a/configure.in	Mon May 16 17:20:47 2011 +0200
+++ b/configure.in	Mon May 16 22:28:29 2011 -0700
@@ -3544,12 +3544,18 @@
   wchar_h="yes"
 ],
 wchar_h="no"
+AC_MSG_ERROR([Python requires wchar.h for Unicode support])
 )
 
 # determine wchar_t size
 if test "$wchar_h" = yes
 then
   AC_CHECK_SIZEOF(wchar_t, 4, [#include <wchar.h>])
+  if test "$ac_cv_sizeof_wchar_t" -lt 2
+  then
+    # See bug #12010
+    AC_MSG_ERROR([wchar_t must be at least 2 bytes])
+  fi
 fi
 
 AC_MSG_CHECKING(for UCS-4 tcl)