diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 6d4d422dceb2..deac11f89894 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -433,7 +433,7 @@ AS_IF([test x$enable_code_coverage = xyes], [
 AC_ARG_WITH([flux-security], AS_HELP_STRING([--with-flux-security],
              [Build with flux-security]))
 AS_IF([test "x$with_flux_security" = "xyes"], [
-    PKG_CHECK_MODULES([FLUX_SECURITY], [flux-security >= 0.14.0],
+    PKG_CHECK_MODULES([FLUX_SECURITY], [flux-security >= 0.13.0],
       [flux_sec_incdir=`$PKG_CONFIG --variable=includedir flux-security`])
     AS_IF([test "x$flux_sec_incdir" = x],
           [AC_MSG_ERROR([couldn't find flux-security include directory])])