diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/matplotlib/2.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/matplotlib/2.nix
index 6334d2e4f79..fb433be8d99 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/matplotlib/2.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/matplotlib/2.nix
@@ -34,13 +34,15 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
 
   XDG_RUNTIME_DIR = "/tmp";
 
+  nativeBuildInputs = [ pkgconfig ];
+
   buildInputs = [ python which sphinx stdenv ]
     ++ stdenv.lib.optional enableGhostscript ghostscript
     ++ stdenv.lib.optional stdenv.isDarwin [ Cocoa ];
 
   propagatedBuildInputs =
     [ cycler dateutil nose numpy pyparsing tornado freetype kiwisolver
-      libpng pkgconfig mock pytz ]
+      libpng mock pytz ]
     ++ stdenv.lib.optional (pythonOlder "3.3") backports_functools_lru_cache
     ++ stdenv.lib.optional enableGtk2 pygtk
     ++ stdenv.lib.optionals enableGtk3 [ cairo pycairo gtk3 gobject-introspection pygobject3 ]
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/matplotlib/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/matplotlib/default.nix
index 718eb2de425..d4c8e970c50 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/matplotlib/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/matplotlib/default.nix
@@ -35,13 +35,15 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
 
   XDG_RUNTIME_DIR = "/tmp";
 
+  nativeBuildInputs = [ pkgconfig ];
+
   buildInputs = [ python which sphinx stdenv ]
     ++ stdenv.lib.optional enableGhostscript ghostscript
     ++ stdenv.lib.optional stdenv.isDarwin [ Cocoa ];
 
   propagatedBuildInputs =
     [ cycler dateutil nose numpy pyparsing tornado freetype kiwisolver
-      libpng pkgconfig mock pytz ]
+      libpng mock pytz ]
     ++ stdenv.lib.optional (pythonOlder "3.3") backports_functools_lru_cache
     ++ stdenv.lib.optional enableGtk2 pygtk
     ++ stdenv.lib.optionals enableGtk3 [ cairo pycairo gtk3 gobject-introspection pygobject3 ]
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
index c070b9c2297..1b5fccaece8 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
@@ -3058,6 +3058,7 @@ in {
   in callPackage path {
     stdenv = if stdenv.isDarwin then pkgs.clangStdenv else pkgs.stdenv;
     inherit (pkgs.darwin.apple_sdk.frameworks) Cocoa;
+    inherit (pkgs) pkgconfig;
   };
 
   matrix-client = callPackage ../development/python-modules/matrix-client { };