diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/setup-hooks/validate-pkg-config.sh b/pkgs/build-support/setup-hooks/validate-pkg-config.sh
index ada1b56760d6..c212a1f5301a 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/setup-hooks/validate-pkg-config.sh
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/setup-hooks/validate-pkg-config.sh
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ _validatePkgConfig() {
     for pc in $(find "$prefix" -name '*.pc'); do
         # Do not fail immediately. It's nice to see all errors when
         # there are multiple pkgconfig files.
-        if ! pkg-config --validate "$pc"; then
+        if ! $PKG_CONFIG --validate "$pc"; then
             bail=1
         fi
     done