diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 9fcdefdb..376584b8 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -586,7 +586,26 @@ AC_ARG_ENABLE([NeXus], [AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-NeXus],[build optional NeXus su
     )
     AC_SUBST(NEXUS_PREFIX)
     if test "${NEXUS_FOUND}" != "1"; then
-      NEXUS_LIBS="-L${NEXUS_PREFIX}/lib64 -lNeXus"
+      dnl get suffix for the NeXus library depending on the OS
+      AC_REQUIRE([AC_CANONICAL_HOST])
+      AS_CASE([$host_os],
+       [linux*], [NEXUS_SUFFIX="so"],
+       [darwin*], [NEXUS_SUFFIX="dylib"],
+       [*cygwin*], [NEXUS_SUFFIX="dll"],
+       [AC_MSG_ERROR([NeXus check: Your platform is not currently supported])]
+      )
+      AC_MSG_NOTICE([NeXus Suffix Result: "${NEXUS_SUFFIX}"])
+      if test -r ${NEXUS_PREFIX}/lib/libNeXus.${NEXUS_SUFFIX}; then
+        NEXUS_LIB_DIR="lib"
+      elif test -r ${NEXUS_PREFIX}/lib64/libNeXus.${NEXUS_SUFFIX}; then
+        NEXUS_LIB_DIR="lib64"
+      else
+        AC_MSG_ERROR(
+         [Couldn't find the NeXus library.]
+        )
+      fi
+
+      NEXUS_LIBS="-L${NEXUS_PREFIX}/${NEXUS_LIB_DIR} -lNeXus"
       NEXUS_CFLAGS="-I${NEXUS_PREFIX}/include/nexus"
     fi
     AC_SUBST(NEXUS_LIBS)