diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index ff803b1892..241cb08a1d 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -278,12 +278,13 @@ AC_SUBST(GLIB_PREFIX)
 AC_SUBST(GST_PREFIX)
 
 dnl GTK is optional and only used in examples
-PKG_CHECK_MODULES(GTK, gtk+-2.0 >= 2.14.0, HAVE_GTK=yes, HAVE_GTK=no)
+PKG_CHECK_MODULES(GTK, gtk+-3.0, HAVE_GTK=yes,
+    [PKG_CHECK_MODULES(GTK, gtk+-2.0 >= 2.14.0, HAVE_GTK=yes, HAVE_GTK=no)])
 AM_CONDITIONAL(HAVE_GTK, test "x$HAVE_GTK" = "xyes")
 
 dnl some examples need gtk+-x11
-PKG_CHECK_MODULES(GTK_X11, gtk+-x11-2.0 >= 2.14.0,
-    HAVE_GTK_X11=yes, HAVE_GTK_X11=no)
+PKG_CHECK_MODULES(GTK_X11, gtk+-x11-3.0, HAVE_GTK_X11=yes,
+    [PKG_CHECK_MODULES(GTK_X11, gtk+-x11-2.0 >= 2.14.0, HAVE_GTK_X11=yes, HAVE_GTK_X11=no)])
 AM_CONDITIONAL(HAVE_GTK_X11, test "x$HAVE_GTK_X11" = "xyes")
 
 dnl QT is optional and only used in examples