Try configuring with bash.

checking whether make supports nested variables... (cached) yes
1067./configure: line 12686: syntax error near unexpected token AX_PTHREAD('

https://travis-ci.org/github/gevent/gevent/jobs/689397295

.travis.yml

@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ jobs:
         # used pip install which used temporary directories.)
         - pushd deps/libev && ./configure -C --prefix=$BUILD_LIBS && make install && popd
         - pushd deps/c-ares && ./configure -C --prefix=$BUILD_LIBS && make -j4 install && popd
-        - pushd deps/libuv && ./autogen.sh && ./configure -C --disable-static --prefix=$BUILD_LIBS && make -j4 install && popd
+        - pushd deps/libuv && ./autogen.sh && bash ./configure -C --disable-static --prefix=$BUILD_LIBS && make -j4 install && popd
         # libev builds a manpage each time, and it includes today's date, so it frequently changes.
         # delete to avoid repacking the archive
         - rm -rf $BUILD_LIBS/share/man/