diff --git a/SConstruct b/SConstruct
index ca5d5cf..76738e3 100644
--- a/SConstruct
+++ b/SConstruct
@@ -354,7 +354,7 @@ if conf.CheckForApp( 'which pyuic4' ) and conf.CheckForPyModule( 'dbus' ) and co
     env['PYUIC4'] = True
     build_mixer = True
 
-if conf.CheckForApp( 'xdg-desktop-menu --help' ):
+if conf.CheckForApp( 'which xdg-desktop-menu' ):
     env['XDG_TOOLS'] = True
 else:
     print """
diff --git a/support/dbus/SConscript b/support/dbus/SConscript
index 2b0f0c6..23069d8 100644
--- a/support/dbus/SConscript
+++ b/support/dbus/SConscript
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ if not env.GetOption( "clean" ):
         env.MergeFlags( env['LIBXML26_FLAGS'] )
     else:
         env.PrependUnique( LIBS=["expat"] )
+        env.MergeFlags( "-DSERIALIZE_USE_EXPAT" )
 
 env.Xml2Cpp_Proxy('controlclient-glue.h', 'control-interface.xml')
 env.Xml2Cpp_Adaptor('controlserver-glue.h', 'control-interface.xml')
diff --git a/support/firmware/SConscript b/support/firmware/SConscript
index 2939cb0..307b295 100644
--- a/support/firmware/SConscript
+++ b/support/firmware/SConscript
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ if not env.GetOption( "clean" ):
         env.MergeFlags( env['LIBXML26_FLAGS'] )
     else:
         env.PrependUnique( LIBS=["expat"] )
+        env.MergeFlags( "-DSERIALIZE_USE_EXPAT" )
 
 static_env = env.Clone()
 
diff --git a/support/tools/SConscript b/support/tools/SConscript
index 651621d..01b11f4 100644
--- a/support/tools/SConscript
+++ b/support/tools/SConscript
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ if not e.GetOption( "clean" ):
                 e.MergeFlags( env['LIBXML26_FLAGS'] )
         else:
                 e.PrependUnique( LIBS=["expat"] )
+                e.MergeFlags( "-DSERIALIZE_USE_EXPAT" )
 
 #
 # For the the ffado-diag tools
diff --git a/tests/SConscript b/tests/SConscript
index 307341f..4800b93 100644
--- a/tests/SConscript
+++ b/tests/SConscript
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ if not env.GetOption( "clean" ):
 		env.MergeFlags( env['LIBXML26_FLAGS'] )
 	else:
 		env.PrependUnique( LIBS=["expat"] )
+        env.MergeFlags( "-DSERIALIZE_USE_EXPAT" )
 
 static_env = env.Clone()