diff --git a/tools/chapel-py/setup.py b/tools/chapel-py/setup.py
index bee452790c1c..30c270872467 100644
--- a/tools/chapel-py/setup.py
+++ b/tools/chapel-py/setup.py
@@ -64,9 +64,8 @@
 LDFLAGS = []
 LDFLAGS += [
     "-L{}".format(chpl_lib_path),
+    "-Wl,-rpath,{}".format(chpl_lib_path),
     "-lChplFrontendShared",
-    "-Wl,-rpath",
-    chpl_lib_path,
 ]
 
 if str(chpl_variables.get("CHPL_SANITIZE")) == "address":