diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 4725a113..9afa28a7 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,11 @@
+2008-05-10  Curtis Gedak  <gedakc@gmail.com>
+
+	* gparted.in: Enhanced script to use hal-lock only if it exists
+	  - This removes the absolute requirement for hal-lock and
+	    enables systems without HAL to use GParted.
+
+	* configure.in: Removed check for hal-lock program (added 2008-05-08)
+
 2008-05-08  Curtis Gedak  <gedakc@gmail.com>
 
 	* README: Added note about hal-lock and HAL requirement
diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index 149f7c59..3c4e862b 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -14,12 +14,6 @@ AC_PROG_CC
 AC_PROG_CXX
 AM_PROG_LIBTOOL
 
-dnl check for hal-lock program
-AC_CHECK_PROG([HAVE_HAL_LOCK], [hal-lock], [yes], [no])
-if test "x$HAVE_HAL_LOCK" = "xno"; then
-	AC_MSG_ERROR([*** hal-lock program not found])
-fi
-
 
 dnl======================
 dnl i18n stuff 
diff --git a/gparted.in b/gparted.in
index bc9244cc..ab2d39a6 100755
--- a/gparted.in
+++ b/gparted.in
@@ -1,23 +1,35 @@
-#!/bin/bash
+#!/bin/sh
 #
-#  Purpose:  Acquire device locks prior to running gparted.
+#  Purpose:  Perform appropriate startup of GParted executable gpartedbin.
+#
+#            On systems with hal-lock, use hal-lock to acquire device
+#            locks prior to running gpartedbin.
 #            This is to prevent devices from being automounted.
 #            File system problems can occur if devices are mounted
 #            prior to the completion of GParted's operations.
 #            See GParted bug #324220
 #            http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=324220
 #
-#
-#  Following is a quote from HAL 0.5.10 Specification.
-#  http://people.freedesktop.org/~david/hal-spec/hal-spec.html#locking-guidelines
-#
-#  In order to prevent HAL-based automounters from mounting partitions
-#  that are being prepared, applications that access block devices
-#  directly (and pokes the kernel to reload the partitioning table)
-#  should lock out automounters by either a) obtaining the
-#  org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.Storage lock on each drive being processed;
-#  or b) obtaining the global org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.Storage lock.
+#            On systems without hal-lock, invoke gpartedbin directly.
 #
 
-hal-lock --interface org.freedeskdesktop.Hal.Device.Storage --exclusive \
-	--run "@installdir@/gpartedbin $*"
+#
+#  Search PATH to determine if hal-lock program can be found
+#
+HAVE_HAL_LOCK=no
+for k in '' `echo "$PATH" | sed 's,:, ,g'`; do
+	if test -x "$k/hal-lock"; then
+		HAVE_HAL_LOCK=yes
+		break
+	fi
+done
+
+#
+#  Use hal-lock for invocation if it exists, otherwise simply run gpartedbin
+#
+if test "x$HAVE_HAL_LOCK" = "xyes"; then
+	hal-lock --interface org.freedeskdesktop.Hal.Device.Storage --exclusive \
+		--run "@installdir@/gpartedbin $*"
+else
+	@installdir@/gpartedbin $*
+fi