diff --git a/Makefile.PL b/Makefile.PL
index 2636133..7d1a1b4 100644
--- a/Makefile.PL
+++ b/Makefile.PL
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ use Config;
 use Cwd qw(abs_path);
 use ExtUtils::MakeMaker 6.64;
 use Getopt::Long;
+use File::Spec;
 use File::Basename;
 
 GetOptions(
@@ -26,7 +27,7 @@ unless ($sel) {
     for $p (split /$sep/, $ENV{PATH}) {
         $p =~ s/^~/$ENV{HOME}/;
         for $exe_version ('3', '') {
-            my $py = "$p/python$exe_version$exe";
+            my $py = File::Spec->catfile($p, "python$exe_version$exe");
             next unless -f $py and -x $py;
             next if $pythons{abs_path($py)}++; # filter symlinked duplicates
             my $version = get_python_major_version($py);
@@ -73,7 +74,6 @@ unless ($sel) {
 $sel = { path => $sel } unless ref $sel eq 'HASH'; # in case the user entered a path
 
 print "Using $sel->{path}\n";
-
 my $py_major_version = get_python_major_version($sel->{path});
 
 #============================================================================
@@ -82,7 +82,9 @@ my $py_major_version = get_python_major_version($sel->{path});
 interrogate($sel);
 
 # Fix up the libpath and libpython
-die "Could not find Python.h in include path. make will not work" unless -e "$sel->{incpath}/Python.h";
+die "Could not find Python.h in include path. make will not work"
+  unless -e File::Spec->catfile($sel->{incpath}, "Python.h");
+
 substr($sel->{incpath}, 0, 0) = "-I";
 substr($sel->{libpath}, 0, 0) = "-L";
 $sel->{libpython} =~ s/lib(.*)(?:\.\Q$Config{dlext}\E|\Q$Config{_a}\E)/-l$1/;
@@ -92,6 +94,7 @@ push @flags, debug_flag() if defined $gdb;
 push @flags, '-DI_PY_DEBUG' if $debug;
 push @flags, "-DPY_MAJOR_VERSION=$py_major_version";
 push @flags, 'none (perl Makefile.PL --help for details)' unless @flags;
+$sel->{syslib} = '' if $sel->{syslib} eq "None";
 print <<END;
 Using These Settings:
    Extra Libs:  $sel->{syslibs}
@@ -120,6 +123,7 @@ WriteMakefile(
                             'Inline'       => 0.46,
                             'Digest::MD5'  => 2.50,
                             'Data::Dumper' => 0,
+                            'File::Spec'   => 0,
 			  },
         TEST_REQUIRES => {
                             'Test'                => 0,
@@ -140,11 +144,114 @@ WriteMakefile(
 			    },
 			   },
 	      clean => {FILES => 'blib_test/'},
+         dynamic_lib => {
+             OTHERLDFLAGS => ($sel->{rpath} ? "-Wl,-rpath,$sel->{rpath}" : ''),
+          },
+
 	     );
 
 #============================================================================
 # Tries to ask the python interpreter what libraries we need, where its
 # include directories are, etc.
+# Typical values of the Python sysconfig variables:
+#
+# - VERSION
+#
+#   - Ubuntu : 3.10
+#   - Windows: 310
+#   - macOS  : 3.10
+#
+# - BINDIR
+#
+#   - Ubuntu :
+#    - system version: /usr/bin
+#    - pyenv version : /home/username/.pyenv/versions/3.9.4/bin
+#  - Windows : C:\Python\Python310  (NOTE: missing trailing "bin")
+#  - macOS   :
+#    - system version : /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Library
+#                        /Frameworks/Python3.framework/Versions/3.8/bin
+#    - pyenv version  : /Users/username/.pyenv/versions/3.10.0-debug/bin
+#
+# - LIBS:
+#
+#   - Ubuntu : -lcrypt -lpthread -ldl  -lutil -lm
+#   - Windows: [None]
+#   - macOS  :
+#    - system version : -ldl -lSystem -framework CoreFoundation
+#    - pyenv version  : -ldl -framework CoreFoundation
+#
+# - INCLUDEPY
+#
+#   - Ubuntu : /usr/include/python3.9
+#   - Windows: C:\Python\Python310\Include
+#   - macOS
+#    - system version : /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Library
+#                        /Frameworks/Python3.framework/Versions/3.8/Headers
+#    - pyenv version  : /Users/username/.pyenv/versions/3.10.0-debug/include/python3.10d
+#
+# - LIBPL
+#
+#   - Ubuntu :
+#    - system version : /usr/lib/python3.9/config-3.9-x86_64-linux-gnu
+#    - pyenv version  : /home/username/.pyenv/versions/3.8.9
+#                         /lib/python3.8/config-3.8-x86_64-linux-gnu (NOTE: this folder does
+#                              not contain a shared library even if python was built with
+#                              --enable-shared. However, the folder LIBDIR, see below, does)
+#   - Windows: [None]  (NOTE: this should be "$BINDIR/libs" on windows)
+#   - macOS  :
+#    - system version : /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Library/Frameworks
+#                        /Python3.framework/Versions/3.8/lib/python3.8/config-3.8-darwin
+#    - pyenv version  : /Users/username/.pyenv/versions/3.10.0-debug/lib
+#                           /python3.10/config-3.10d-darwin
+#
+# - LDLIBRARY
+#
+#   - Ubuntu :
+#     - if python was built with --enable-shared : libpython3.9.so
+#     - else                                     : libpython3.9.a
+#   - Windows: [None] (NOTE: this should be "python310.lib" on windows,
+#                      where a .lib file is a so-called import-library on Windows. The
+#                      import library reference a .dll library in $BINDIR.
+#                      On Windows there is also a stable-across-versions-subset library
+#                      called "python3.lib" (which references "python3.dll" in $BINDIR,
+#                      see https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0384/ for more information.)
+#   - macOS  :
+#    - system version: Python3.framework/Versions/3.8/Python3 (NOTE: this is a .dylib
+#                           i.e. a shared library)
+#    - pyenv version :
+#     - if built with --enable-shared : libpython3.10d.dylib
+#     - else                          : libpython3.10d.a
+#
+# - LIBRARY
+#
+#   - Ubuntu : libpython3.9.a
+#   - Windows: [None]  (NOTE: static library is not available but import library exists
+#                        see note on LDLIBRARY above)
+#   - macOS  : libpython3.10d.a
+#
+# - LIBDEST
+#
+#   - Ubuntu : /home/username/.pyenv/versions/3.9.4/lib/python3.9
+#   - Windows: C:\Python310\Lib (NOTE: this folder does not contain anything interesting
+#                            to us. No static or shared libraries here, but the import
+#                            library is in the libs folder C:\Python310\libs and the
+#                            .dll library is in the BINDIR C:\Python310)
+#   - macOS  :
+#    - system version : /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Library
+#                          /Frameworks/Python3.framework/Versions/3.8/lib/python3.8
+#    - pyenv version  : /Users/username/.pyenv/versions/3.10.0-debug/lib/python3.10
+#
+# - LIBDIR
+#
+#   - Ubuntu  :
+#    - system version : /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu
+#    - pyenv version  : /home/username/.pyenv/versions/3.9.4/lib
+#   - Windows : [None]
+#   - macOS   :
+#    - system version: /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Library
+#                          /Frameworks/Python3.framework/Versions/3.8/lib
+#    - pyenv version : /Users/username/.pyenv/versions/3.10.0-debug/lib
+#
 #============================================================================
 sub interrogate {
     my $ref = shift;
@@ -154,36 +261,190 @@ sub interrogate {
     $ref->{libpath}   = get_config_var($ref, "LIBPL");
     $ref->{ldlib}     = get_config_var($ref, "LDLIBRARY");
     $ref->{libpython} = get_config_var($ref, "LIBRARY");
-    my $tmp = rindex($ref->{libpython}, '/') + 1;
-    $ref->{libpython} = substr($ref->{libpython}, $tmp);
+    my $tmp = File::Spec->canonpath($ref->{libpython});
+    my @dirs = File::Spec->splitdir( $tmp );
+    $ref->{libpython} = $dirs[-1];
+    # On Windows, Python config var "LIBRARY" is not defined
     if ($ref->{libpython} eq 'None') {
         special_get_libpath($ref);
     }
-    $ref->{libpath} = join '/', (get_config_var($ref, "LIBDEST"),
-				 'config')
-      if ($ref->{libpath} eq 'None');
+    $ref->{libpath} = File::Spec->catfile(get_config_var($ref, "LIBDEST"), 'config')
+        if ($ref->{libpath} eq 'None');
+    $ref->{rpath} = ''; # only used if we are linking with a shared library, see below.
+    $ref->{cflags} = get_config_var($ref, 'CFLAGS');
+    $ref->{config_args} = get_config_var($ref, 'CONFIG_ARGS');
+    $ref->{enable_shared} = (get_config_var($ref, 'Py_ENABLE_SHARED') eq "1");
+    if (using_macos_system_python($ref)) {
+        add_rpath_for_macos_system_python($ref);
+    }
+    elsif ($^O ne "MSWin32") {  # we use the import library on Windows,
+                                   # see special_get_libpath() below
+        special_non_windows_check_shared_static_libs($ref);
+    }
     return query_options($ref) unless sanity_check($ref);
 }
 
+# on macOS using the system python, the path to the shared and static libraries
+#   is given by "libpath" (LIBPL). In this directory there exists two files:
+#   - libpythonxxx.a
+#   - libpythonxxx.dylib
+# the first name (the static library libpythonxxx.a) is given by the python sysconfig
+# variable "libpython" (LIBRARY). However, both these files are symlinks to a shared
+# library called "Python" which is located relative to LIBPL with path:
+# ../../../Python3. This file "Python3" (or "Python2" ??), is a dylib with an embedded
+#  @rpath magic search path given by: @rpath/Python3.framework/Versions/3.8/Python3 which
+#  is also the ID of the library (LC_ID_DYLIB) which means that Python.so (the Perl
+#  generated interface) must include an rpath to the directory 3 levels above the
+# location of "Python3" (which is 6 levels above libpythonxxx.dylib in LIBPL).
+#  This directory is fortunately given by the config variable
+#  PYTHONFRAMEWORKPREFIX.
+#
+sub add_rpath_for_macos_system_python {
+    my ($ref) = @_;
+
+    $ref->{rpath} = get_config_var($ref, 'PYTHONFRAMEWORKPREFIX');
+};
+
+sub special_non_windows_check_shared_static_libs {
+    my ($ref) = @_;
+
+    if (shared_lib_priority($ref)) {
+        $ref->{libpython} = $ref->{ldlib};
+        my $shared_lib = File::Spec->catfile($ref->{libpath}, $ref->{libpython});
+        if (!-f $shared_lib) {
+            # Special case for pyenv. The shared library exists in $LIBDIR instead of in
+            #   $LIBPL
+            $ref->{libpath} = get_config_var($ref, "LIBDIR");
+        }
+        $ref->{rpath} = $ref->{libpath};
+    }
+    else {
+        if (!check_static_library_ok($ref)) {
+            # In this case we may find a shared library to link with in
+            #  $LIBDIR instead of in $LIBPL, this happens if you install Python
+            #  with pyenv (on the other hand for the system python there will
+            #  a shared library in both $LIBDIR and $LIBPL, see issue #29 for more information.
+            # TODO: However, this still does not work for pyenv (tested on Ubuntu). For some
+            #   reason this shared library does not behave well unless python was also compiled
+            #   with -fPIC option.
+            if (( $ref->{cflags} !~ /\Q-fPIC\E/i)  && ($ref->{path} !~ m{^/(?:usr/)?bin/python})) {
+                if ($ref->{enable_shared}) {
+                    warn "WARNING: This python's shared library was compiled with --enable-shared but not "
+                    ." with -fPIC option, this might lead to strange runtime behavior.\n";
+                }
+                else {
+                    # TODO: strangely this seems to work fine on macOS.
+                    #   More investigation is needed here...
+                    warn "WARNING: This python was not compiled with --enable-shared and not "
+                        . "with -fPIC.\n"
+                        . "WARNING: This is known to not work on linux.\n";
+                }
+            }
+            $ref->{libpath} = get_config_var($ref, "LIBDIR");
+            $ref->{libpython} = $ref->{ldlib};
+            $ref->{rpath} = $ref->{libpath};
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+sub shared_lib_priority {
+    my ($ref) = @_;
+
+    if ($ref->{libpython} ne $ref->{ldlib}) {
+        # This should happen if python was compiled with --enable-shared
+        #  In this case the linker will prefer the shared library
+        my $static_lib = File::Spec->catfile($ref->{libpath}, $ref->{libpython});
+        my $shared_lib = File::Spec->catfile($ref->{libpath}, $ref->{ldlib});
+        return 1 if (-f $static_lib) && (-f $shared_lib);
+    }
+    return 0;
+}
+
+sub check_static_library_ok {
+    my ($ref) = @_;
+
+    # We should check if the static library was compiled with -fPIC, or else
+    #  we cannot create a shared Python.so from it.
+    #  TODO: It seem like it is possible to build python with --enable-shared
+    #    and without CFLAGS=-fPIC, and this will make both libpythonxx.so and
+    #    libpythonxx.a  position independent, but in this case strange things
+    #    may happen at runtime (i.e. when running "make test"), see issue #29
+    #    for more information. This should be investigated futher to determine what
+    #    is actually going on.
+    #    This seems to not be a problem on macOS though.
+    return 1 if $ref->{cflags} =~ /\Q-fPIC\E/i;
+    warn "WARNING: The static python library seems not to be position indepenent.\n"
+         . "WARNING: If this does not work you should try again with a "
+         . "python version that was compiled with CFLAGS=-fPIC\n";
+    return 0;
+}
+
+sub using_macos_system_python {
+    my ($ref) = @_;
+
+    return ($^O eq "darwin") && ($ref->{path} =~ m{^/usr/bin/python});
+}
+
+sub check_shared_lib_support() {
+    my ($ref) = @_;
+
+    # Windows python always have a shared lib
+    return 1 if $^O eq "MSWin32";
+    # The system python always have a shared lib on macOS
+    return 1 if using_macos_system_python($ref);
+    # See https://stackoverflow.com/a/23202055/2173773
+    return $ref->{enable_shared};
+}
+
+sub get_python_version {
+    my $ref = shift;
+    my $major = `$ref->{path} -c "import sys; print(sys.version_info[0])"`;
+    my $minor = `$ref->{path} -c "import sys; print(sys.version_info[1])"`;
+    return ($major, $minor);
+}
+
+# On Windows, Python config var "LIBRARY" is not defined, so we try another method
+#  to obtain the library path name
 sub special_get_libpath {
-	# For when sysconfig does not work (i.e. on Windows)
     my $ref = shift;
-    my $val = `$ref->{path} -c "import distutils.command.build_ext; d=distutils.core.Distribution(); b=distutils.command.build_ext.build_ext(d);b.finalize_options();print(b.library_dirs[0])" 2>&1`;
+    my ($major, $minor) = get_python_version($ref);
+    my $cmd;
+    if (($major == 3 && $minor >=10) || $major > 3 ) {
+        $cmd = 'import setuptools.command.build_ext; d=setuptools.dist.Distribution();'
+              .'b=setuptools.command.build_ext.build_ext(d)';
+    }
+    else {
+        $cmd = 'import distutils.command.build_ext; d=distutils.core.Distribution();'
+              . 'b=distutils.command.build_ext.build_ext(d)';
+    }
+    my @lines = `$ref->{path} -c "$cmd;b.finalize_options();print(b.library_dirs[0])" 2>&1`;
+    my $val = $lines[-1];
     chomp $val;
+    return '' if !$val;
+    # On Windows, $val should now be equal to $BINDIR/libs
+    my $pyscript = "import sysconfig; "
+                  . "print(sysconfig.get_config_var('VERSION'))";
+    my $version = `$ref->{path} -c "$pyscript"`;
+    chomp $version;
     $ref->{libpath} = $val;
-    $ref->{libpython} = basename((glob("$val/libpython*.a"))[0]);
+    $ref->{libpython} = "python${version}.lib"; # Note: on Windows this is an import library,
+                                                #  that referes to a shared library
+                                                #  (not a static library)
+    # The above file should always exist, alternatively we could
+    #  set libpath to $BINDIR and libpython to python$version.dll and use the shared library
+    #  directly instead of using the import library.
     return $val;
 }
 
 sub test_interrogate {
     my $ref = shift;
-    `$ref->{path} -c "import distutils.sysconfig; distutils.sysconfig.get_config_var" 2>&1`;
+    `$ref->{path} -c "import sysconfig; sysconfig.get_config_var" 2>&1`;
     print <<END if $?;
 
 This python is so old it doesn't know how to answer my questions.
 
-Instead, you will be asked a series of questions about it. If possible, 
-I will give you a set of reasonable options to choose from. You can 
+Instead, you will be asked a series of questions about it. If possible,
+I will give you a set of reasonable options to choose from. You can
 always enter the complete answer yourself if none of mine are correct.
 END
     #' stupid vim.
@@ -194,21 +455,21 @@ sub sanity_check {
     my $ref = shift;
 
     $ref->{libpython} = $ref->{ldlib}
-        if not -f join '/', $ref->{libpath}, $ref->{libpython}
-           and -f join '/', $ref->{libpath}, $ref->{ldlib};
-
+        if not -f File::Spec->catfile($ref->{libpath}, $ref->{libpython})
+           and -f File::Spec->catfile($ref->{libpath}, $ref->{ldlib});
+    my $libpath = File::Spec->catfile($ref->{libpath}, $ref->{libpython});
     unless (-d $ref->{libpath} &&
 	    -d $ref->{incpath} &&
-	    (-f join '/', $ref->{libpath}, $ref->{libpython})
+	    (-f File::Spec->catfile($ref->{libpath}, $ref->{libpython}))
 	   ) {
 	print <<END and return 0;
 
 This python's configuration files are messed up. You'll have have to
 answer the questions yourself. Here is what Python said:
 
-   Extra Libs:  $sel->{syslibs}
-   Python Library:  $sel->{libpath}/$sel->{libpython}
-   Include Path:    $sel->{incpath}
+   Extra Libs:  $ref->{syslibs}
+   Python Library:  $libpath
+   Include Path:    $ref->{incpath}
 END
     # ' stupid vim.
     }
@@ -227,7 +488,7 @@ sub get_config_var {
     my $ref = shift;
     my $key = shift;
     my $exe = $ref->{path};
-    my $val = `$exe -c "import distutils.sysconfig; print(distutils.sysconfig.get_config_var('$key'))"`;
+    my $val = `$exe -c "import sysconfig; print(sysconfig.get_config_var('$key'))"`;
     chomp $val;
     return $val;
 }
@@ -236,21 +497,21 @@ sub query_options {
     my $ref = shift;
 
     # Every python I've seen needs pthreads. Obviously not on windows.
-    my $libs_guess = $ref->{syslibs} ? $ref->{syslibs} : 
+    my $libs_guess = $ref->{syslibs} ? $ref->{syslibs} :
 		     $^O eq 'MSWin32' ? '' : '-lpthread';
     print <<END;
 
-	1. LIBS option. I need to know what extra libraries, if any,  
+	1. LIBS option. I need to know what extra libraries, if any,
 	   are required by this build of python. I recommend this:
 	   ${ $libs_guess ? \$libs_guess : \"No extra libraries" }
 
 END
-    $ref->{syslibs} = prompt("Enter extra libraries (e.g. -lfoo -lbar)", 
+    $ref->{syslibs} = prompt("Enter extra libraries (e.g. -lfoo -lbar)",
 			     $libs_guess);
 
     print <<END;
 
-	2. LIBRARY option. The location of the python library. 
+	2. LIBRARY option. The location of the python library.
 	   Inline::Python needs to link against it to use Python.
 
 	Here are the libraries I know about:
@@ -259,8 +520,9 @@ END
     my $lib = prompt("Which? Or enter another.", '1');
     $lib = $libs[$lib-1] if $lib =~ /^\d+$/;
     $lib =~ s|\\|/|g;
-    $ref->{libpath} = substr($lib, 0, rindex($lib, '/'));
-    $ref->{libpython} = substr($lib, rindex($lib, '/')+1);
+    my ($volume, $directories, $file) = File::Spec->splitpath( $lib );
+    $ref->{libpath} = File::Spec->canonpath(File::Spec->catpath($volume, $directories));
+    $ref->{libpython} = $file;
 
     print <<END;
 
@@ -286,7 +548,7 @@ sub show_python_libs {
   $exe =~ s|[^/]+$||;
   $exe .= "../lib/python*/config/libpython*";
 
-  my @py_libs = 
+  my @py_libs =
    (
    (map { $exe . $_ } '.a', '.so', '.lib'),
    '/usr/lib64/libpython*.a',
@@ -327,17 +589,21 @@ sub show_python_incs {
   $exe =~ s|[^/]+$||;
   $exe .= "../include/python*";
 
-  my @py_incs = 
-   (
-   $exe,
-   '/usr/local/ActivePython-*/include/python*',
-   '/usr/include/python*',
-   '/usr/local/include/python*',
-
-   # Win32 support
-   'C:/Python*/include',
-   'C:/Program Files/Python*/include',
-   );
+  my @py_incs;
+  if ($^O eq "MSWin32") {
+    @py_incs = (
+      'C:\Python*\include',
+      'C:\Program Files\Python*\include'
+    );
+  }
+  else {
+    @py_incs = (
+      $exe,
+      '/usr/local/ActivePython-*/include/python*',
+      '/usr/include/python*',
+      '/usr/local/include/python*',
+    );
+  }
 
   my (@found, %found);
   push @found, grep { -d && $found{abspath($_)}++ == 0 } glob for @py_incs;
@@ -353,12 +619,12 @@ sub abspath {
     use Cwd qw(abs_path);
     my ($path, $file) = shift;
     if (-f $path) {
-	my @p = split '/', $path;
-        $path = join '/', @p[0..$#p-1]; # can't use -2 in a range
-	$file = $p[-1];
+        my @parts = File::Spec->splitpath($path);
+        $path = File::Spec->canonpath(File::Spec->catpath(@parts[0..1]));
+    	$file = $parts[-1];
     }
     $path = abs_path($path);
-    return defined $file ? join '/', $path, $file : $path;
+    return defined $file ? File::Spec->catfile($path, $file) : $path;
 }
 
 sub debug_flag {