diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index e8aff829e..38aadbea8 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 [build-system]
-requires = ["setuptools>=61", "cffi>=1.3.0", "pkgconfig"]
+requires = ["setuptools>=61", "cffi>=1.3.0"]
 build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
 
 [project]
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 01ad2dfa3..80c417692 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -292,8 +292,11 @@ def build_extensions(self):
         # ABI?: py_limited_api=True,
     )
 
-    pkgconfig.configure_extension(extension, secp256k1_package, static=False)
-    package_info = pkgconfig.parse(secp256k1_package, static=False)
+    extension.extra_compile_args = [str(subprocess.check_output(['pkg-config', '--cflags-only-I', 'libsecp256k1']))]  # noqa S603
+    extension.extra_link_args = [
+        str(subprocess.check_output(['pkg-config', '--libs-only-L', 'libsecp256k1'])),  # noqa S603
+        str(subprocess.check_output(['pkg-config', '--libs-only-l', 'libsecp256k1'])),  # noqa S603
+    ]
 
     # Apparently, the linker on Windows interprets -lxxx as xxx.lib, not libxxx.lib
     for i, v in enumerate(extension.__dict__.get('extra_link_args')):
@@ -317,7 +320,7 @@ def build_extensions(self):
         license='MIT OR Apache-2.0',
 
         python_requires='>=3.7',
-        install_requires=['asn1crypto', 'cffi>=1.3.0', 'pkgconfig'],
+        install_requires=['asn1crypto', 'cffi>=1.3.0'],
 
         packages=find_packages(exclude=('_cffi_build', '_cffi_build.*', 'libsecp256k1', 'tests')),
         package_data=package_data,
@@ -357,5 +360,5 @@ def build_extensions(self):
             'Topic :: Software Development :: Libraries',
             'Topic :: Security :: Cryptography',
         ],
-       **setup_kwargs
+        **setup_kwargs
     )
diff --git a/setup_support.py b/setup_support.py
index 25f4ef757..0e471444a 100644
--- a/setup_support.py
+++ b/setup_support.py
@@ -58,8 +58,6 @@ def build_flags(library, type_, path):
 
 
 def _find_lib():
-    pkgconfig = __import__('pkgconfig')
-
     if 'COINCURVE_IGNORE_SYSTEM_LIB' in os.environ:
         return False
 
@@ -72,16 +70,22 @@ def _find_lib():
             sources=[os.path.join('coincurve', '_libsecp256k1.c')],
         )
 
-        pkgconfig.configure_extension(extension, 'libsecp256k1', static=False)
-        package_info = pkgconfig.parse('libsecp256k1', static=False)
+        if subprocess.check_output(['pkg-config', '--exists', 'libsecp256k1']):  # noqa S603
+            return False
+
+        extension.extra_compile_args = [str(subprocess.check_output(['pkg-config', '--cflags-only-I', 'libsecp256k1']))]  # noqa S603
+        extension.extra_link_args = [
+            str(subprocess.check_output(['pkg-config', '--libs-only-L', 'libsecp256k1'])),  # noqa S603
+            str(subprocess.check_output(['pkg-config', '--libs-only-l', 'libsecp256k1'])),  # noqa S603
+        ]
 
         if os.name == 'nt' or sys.platform == 'win32':
             ffi.dlopen('libsecp256k1-2')
         else:
             ffi.dlopen('secp256k1')
 
-        return os.path.exists(os.path.join(package_info['include_dirs'][0], 'secp256k1_ecdh.h'))
-    except (OSError, pkgconfig.pkgconfig.PackageNotFoundError):
+        return os.path.exists(os.path.join(extension.extra_compile_args[0][2:], 'secp256k1_ecdh.h'))
+    except OSError:
         if 'LIB_DIR' in os.environ:
             for path in glob.glob(os.path.join(os.environ['LIB_DIR'], '*secp256k1*')):
                 with suppress(OSError):