diff --git a/ompi/contrib/vt/vt/ChangeLog b/ompi/contrib/vt/vt/ChangeLog
index a026accd09..3f0dcf55b2 100644
--- a/ompi/contrib/vt/vt/ChangeLog
+++ b/ompi/contrib/vt/vt/ChangeLog
@@ -229,4 +229,7 @@
 5.4.7
 	- fixed faulty timer selection in configure
 	  (the cycle counter timer is not available on all Linux platforms)
+	- added configure check for header file 'asm/intrinsics.h' and
+	  definition of '_IA64_REG_AR_ITC' which are required to use the
+	  ITC timer on IA64/Linux
 
diff --git a/ompi/contrib/vt/vt/acinclude.m4 b/ompi/contrib/vt/vt/acinclude.m4
index 08dab9d86d..0b7b069a97 100644
--- a/ompi/contrib/vt/vt/acinclude.m4
+++ b/ompi/contrib/vt/vt/acinclude.m4
@@ -1733,11 +1733,19 @@ AC_DEFUN([ACVT_PLATFORM],
 		pform_timer=TIMER_GETTIMEOFDAY
 
 		case $host_cpu in
-			i*86 | x86* | ia64 | powerpc*)
+			i*86 | x86* | powerpc*)
 				AC_DEFINE([TIMER_CYCLE_COUNTER], [3], [Cycle counter (e.g. TSC)])
 				pform_timer=TIMER_CYCLE_COUNTER
 				;;
-			*)
+			ia64)
+				AC_CHECK_HEADERS([asm/intrinsics.h],
+				[
+					AC_CHECK_DECL([_IA64_REG_AR_ITC],
+					[
+						AC_DEFINE([TIMER_CYCLE_COUNTER], [3], [Cycle counter (e.g. ITC)])
+						pform_timer=TIMER_CYCLE_COUNTER
+					], [], [#include <asm/intrinsics.h>])
+				])
 				;;
 		esac
 		;;