diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pkgconfig/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pkgconfig/default.nix
index 38098b432e4..7a25ac78a19 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pkgconfig/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pkgconfig/default.nix
@@ -11,7 +11,10 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
 
   checkInputs = [ nose ];
 
-  nativeBuildInputs = [ pkgconfig ];
+  # Apparently many our expressions get pythonPackages.pkgconfig and expect
+  # to have the pkg-config executable on $PATH
+  # For some reason, propagatedNativeBuildInputs don't seem enough.
+  propagatedBuildInputs = [ pkgconfig ];
 
   checkPhase = ''
     nosetests