diff --git a/bootstrap b/bootstrap
index e4068f68..9e617f01 100755
--- a/bootstrap
+++ b/bootstrap
@@ -121,6 +121,7 @@ esac
 gnulib_modules='
 alloca
 argmatch
+argp
 backupfile
 dirname
 error
@@ -201,6 +202,14 @@ for gnulib_file in $gnulib_files; do
   cp -p $GNULIB_SRCDIR/$gnulib_file $dest || exit
 done
 
+if [ -d patches ]; then
+    echo "$0: Patching gnulib"
+    for file in patches/*.diff
+    do
+      patch -p0 < $file
+    done
+fi
+
 echo "$0: Creating m4/gnulib.m4"
 (echo "# This file is generated automatically. Please, do not edit."
  echo "#"