diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 11005ab320..a0d2d544cb 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -885,7 +885,7 @@ check_pkg_config(){
     headers="$2"
     funcs="$3"
     shift 3
-    $pkg_config --exists $pkg || return
+    check_cmd $pkg_config --exists --print-errors $pkg || return
     pkg_cflags=$($pkg_config --cflags $pkg)
     pkg_libs=$($pkg_config --libs $pkg)
     check_func_headers "$headers" "$funcs" $pkg_cflags $pkg_libs "$@" &&