diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 49cd0fe4..ac3179ee 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -683,14 +683,14 @@ fi
 LIBARCHIVE_REQVER=3.3.3
 
 printf "Checking for libarchive >= ${LIBARCHIVE_REQVER}  via pkg-config ... "
-if ! $PKGCONFIG_BIN --atleast-version=${LIBARCHIVE_REQVER} libarchive; then
+if ! pkg-config --atleast-version=${LIBARCHIVE_REQVER} libarchive; then
 	echo "libarchive.pc file not found, exiting."
 	exit 1
 else
-	echo "found version $($PKGCONFIG_BIN --modversion libarchive)."
-	echo "CFLAGS += $($PKGCONFIG_BIN --cflags libarchive)" >>$CONFIG_MK
-	echo "LDFLAGS +=        $($PKGCONFIG_BIN --libs libarchive)" >>$CONFIG_MK
-	echo "STATIC_LIBS +=    $($PKGCONFIG_BIN --libs --static libarchive)" \
+	echo "found version $(pkg-config --modversion libarchive)."
+	echo "CFLAGS += $(pkg-config --cflags libarchive)" >>$CONFIG_MK
+	echo "LDFLAGS +=        $(pkg-config --libs libarchive)" >>$CONFIG_MK
+	echo "STATIC_LIBS +=    $(pkg-config --libs --static libarchive)" \
 		>>$CONFIG_MK
 fi
 
@@ -698,17 +698,17 @@ fi
 # libssl with pkg-config support is required.
 #
 printf "Checking for libssl via pkg-config ... "
-if $PKGCONFIG_BIN --exists 'libssl < 1.2' && ! $PKGCONFIG_BIN --exists libtls ; then
-	echo "found OpenSSL version $($PKGCONFIG_BIN --modversion libssl)."
-elif $PKGCONFIG_BIN --exists libssl libtls; then
-	echo "found LibreSSL version $($PKGCONFIG_BIN --modversion libssl)."
+if pkg-config --exists 'libssl < 1.2' && ! pkg-config --exists libtls ; then
+	echo "found OpenSSL version $(pkg-config --modversion libssl)."
+elif pkg-config --exists libssl libtls; then
+	echo "found LibreSSL version $(pkg-config --modversion libssl)."
 else
 	echo "libssl.pc file not found or incompatible version detected, exiting."
 	exit 1
 fi
-echo "CFLAGS += $($PKGCONFIG_BIN --cflags libssl)" >>$CONFIG_MK
-echo "LDFLAGS +=        $($PKGCONFIG_BIN --libs libssl)" >>$CONFIG_MK
-echo "STATIC_LIBS +=    $($PKGCONFIG_BIN --libs --static libssl)" \
+echo "CFLAGS += $(pkg-config --cflags libssl)" >>$CONFIG_MK
+echo "LDFLAGS +=        $(pkg-config --libs libssl)" >>$CONFIG_MK
+echo "STATIC_LIBS +=    $(pkg-config --libs --static libssl)" \
 	>>$CONFIG_MK
 
 #
@@ -726,13 +726,13 @@ fi
 #
 if [ "$BUILD_TESTS" = "yes" ]; then
 	printf "Checking for ATF via pkg-config ... "
-	if ! $PKGCONFIG_BIN --atleast-version=0.15 atf-c; then
+	if ! pkg-config --atleast-version=0.15 atf-c; then
 		echo "ATF >= 0.15 not found in PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR, exiting."
 		exit 1
 	fi
-	echo "found version $($PKGCONFIG_BIN --modversion atf-c)."
-	echo "TEST_CFLAGS += $($PKGCONFIG_BIN --cflags atf-c)" >>$CONFIG_MK
-	echo "TEST_LDFLAGS += $($PKGCONFIG_BIN --libs atf-c)" >>$CONFIG_MK
+	echo "found version $(pkg-config --modversion atf-c)."
+	echo "TEST_CFLAGS += $(pkg-config --cflags atf-c)" >>$CONFIG_MK
+	echo "TEST_LDFLAGS += $(pkg-config --libs atf-c)" >>$CONFIG_MK
 	echo "BUILD_TESTS = yes" >>$CONFIG_MK
 	BUILD_TESTS_VALUE=yes
 else