diff --git a/gstlal-burst/configure.ac b/gstlal-burst/configure.ac
index c720bc2255174eb808acb70aff1deaade693a988..b3db80770a3f062bff104fa55de34c7ffd3ceb5b 100644
--- a/gstlal-burst/configure.ac
+++ b/gstlal-burst/configure.ac
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ case `cat /etc/redhat-release 2> /dev/null` in
     ;;
 esac
 LT_INIT
-PKG_PROG_PKG_CONFIG()
+PKG_PROG_PKG_CONFIG(0.18.0)
 
 
 #
diff --git a/gstlal-burst/debian/control.in b/gstlal-burst/debian/control.in
index a7573b553b637520b44f5646901186533a02aa42..d4a7ae9e68678eed618404fb0ea20a014c7e4ccd 100644
--- a/gstlal-burst/debian/control.in
+++ b/gstlal-burst/debian/control.in
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ Build-Depends:
  lalmetaio-dev (>= @MIN_LALMETAIO_VERSION@),
  python-glue (>= @MIN_GLUE_VERSION@),
  fakeroot,
- pkg-config,
+ pkg-config (>= 0.18.0),
  gstlal-dev (>= @MIN_GSTLAL_VERSION@),
  gstlal-ugly-dev (>= @MIN_GSTLAL_UGLY_VERSION@)
 
diff --git a/gstlal-burst/gstlal-burst.spec.in b/gstlal-burst/gstlal-burst.spec.in
index 4c4783f5e3d6129bc1c8aaeedef6db6a9809d586..b7c8283c45746be189e19f5463675c054620c175 100644
--- a/gstlal-burst/gstlal-burst.spec.in
+++ b/gstlal-burst/gstlal-burst.spec.in
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ Requires: lalmetaio >= @MIN_LALMETAIO_VERSION@
 Requires: lalburst >= @MIN_LALBURST_VERSION@
 Requires: orc >= @MIN_ORC_VERSION@
 Requires: gsl
+BuildRequires: pkgconfig >= 0.18.0
 BuildRequires: gobject-introspection-devel >= @MIN_GOBJECT_INTROSPECTION_VERSION@
 BuildRequires: gstlal-devel >= @MIN_GSTLAL_VERSION@
 BuildRequires: python-devel >= @MIN_PYTHON_VERSION@
diff --git a/gstlal-burst/lib/gstlal-burst/gstlal-burst.pc.in b/gstlal-burst/lib/gstlal-burst/gstlal-burst.pc.in
index 1dc8d0a3b6d8f2e04cd9959a83f5c0fb71b60c1c..9d0adc5a318a4ac631b8e5454877c51bfa1b8e75 100644
--- a/gstlal-burst/lib/gstlal-burst/gstlal-burst.pc.in
+++ b/gstlal-burst/lib/gstlal-burst/gstlal-burst.pc.in
@@ -6,6 +6,6 @@ includedir=@includedir@
 Name: libgstlalburst
 Description: LAL/Gstreamer Library (the bursty bits)
 Version: @VERSION@
-Requires: lal lalmetaio lalburst gstlal
+Requires.private: lal lalmetaio lalburst gstlal
 Libs: -L${libdir} -lgstlalburst
 Cflags: -I${includedir}
diff --git a/gstlal-calibration/configure.ac b/gstlal-calibration/configure.ac
index e28365fcc4e08804f41bac8921da319403a92972..04e1556afcc181ba92fb3b1b91b62ff259845539 100644
--- a/gstlal-calibration/configure.ac
+++ b/gstlal-calibration/configure.ac
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ case `cat /etc/redhat-release 2> /dev/null` in
     ;;
 esac
 LT_INIT
-PKG_PROG_PKG_CONFIG()
+PKG_PROG_PKG_CONFIG(0.18.0)
 
 
 #
diff --git a/gstlal-calibration/debian/control.in b/gstlal-calibration/debian/control.in
index 503ea4817475492ae13be59d70db177ee6bb5b38..1f4bc753af0602949849b4c9bb2a3445e21e849f 100644
--- a/gstlal-calibration/debian/control.in
+++ b/gstlal-calibration/debian/control.in
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ Build-Depends:
  lalmetaio-dev (>= @MIN_LALMETAIO_VERSION@),
  libgstreamer1.0-dev (>= @MIN_GSTREAMER_VERSION@),
  libgstreamer-plugins-base1.0-dev (>= @MIN_GSTREAMER_VERSION@),
- pkg-config,
+ pkg-config (>= 0.18.0),
  python-all-dev (>= @MIN_PYTHON_VERSION@),
  python-numpy
 
diff --git a/gstlal-calibration/gstlal-calibration.spec.in b/gstlal-calibration/gstlal-calibration.spec.in
index 6d4b2ff59349eb9cf91209073bc1a03a04fb3bd0..6edf964134e326ba5934efe8e8e116122617b69d 100644
--- a/gstlal-calibration/gstlal-calibration.spec.in
+++ b/gstlal-calibration/gstlal-calibration.spec.in
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ Requires: lal >= @MIN_LAL_VERSION@
 Requires: lalmetaio >= @MIN_LALMETAIO_VERSION@
 Requires: gst-plugins-math >= @MIN_GSTPLUGINSMATH_VERSION@
 
+BuildRequires: pkgconfig >= 0.18.0
 BuildRequires: gstlal-devel >= @MIN_GSTLAL_VERSION@
 BuildRequires: python-devel >= @MIN_PYTHON_VERSION@
 BuildRequires: fftw-devel >= 3
diff --git a/gstlal-inspiral/configure.ac b/gstlal-inspiral/configure.ac
index e66c29574fd359622b6540a091f614ca3a2c29a0..4f62949a0783532ad87af021bad165cc6be244d6 100644
--- a/gstlal-inspiral/configure.ac
+++ b/gstlal-inspiral/configure.ac
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ case `cat /etc/redhat-release 2> /dev/null` in
     ;;
 esac
 LT_INIT
-PKG_PROG_PKG_CONFIG()
+PKG_PROG_PKG_CONFIG(0.18.0)
 
 MIN_DOXYGEN_VERSION="1.8.3"
 GSTLAL_DOXYGEN([$MIN_DOXYGEN_VERSION])
diff --git a/gstlal-inspiral/debian/control.in b/gstlal-inspiral/debian/control.in
index 2278302b2f8acd6e4dc3152e65c8ea1b7dc6b60c..fc1e59f675119ef4d8cc7ad0c1710b2349055816 100644
--- a/gstlal-inspiral/debian/control.in
+++ b/gstlal-inspiral/debian/control.in
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ Build-Depends:
  libgsl-dev (>= 1.9),
  libgstreamer1.0-dev (>= @MIN_GSTREAMER_VERSION@),
  libgstreamer-plugins-base1.0-dev (>= @MIN_GSTREAMER_VERSION@),
- pkg-config,
+ pkg-config (>= 0.18.0),
  python-all-dev (>= @MIN_PYTHON_VERSION@),
  python-glue (>= @MIN_GLUE_VERSION@),
  python-glue-ligolw-tools,
diff --git a/gstlal-inspiral/gstlal-inspiral.spec.in b/gstlal-inspiral/gstlal-inspiral.spec.in
index 945603e474586b799a5340675241086908106c6a..11a889c47a9a5cf5efd4c50570c6dc7470475e8b 100644
--- a/gstlal-inspiral/gstlal-inspiral.spec.in
+++ b/gstlal-inspiral/gstlal-inspiral.spec.in
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ Requires: lalinspiral-python >= @MIN_LALINSPIRAL_VERSION@
 Requires: gsl
 Requires: ligo-gracedb >= 1.11
 Requires: python-%{gstreamername}
+BuildRequires: pkgconfig >= 0.18.0
 BuildRequires: doxygen >= @MIN_DOXYGEN_VERSION@
 BuildRequires: gobject-introspection-devel >= @MIN_GOBJECT_INTROSPECTION_VERSION@
 BuildRequires: graphviz
diff --git a/gstlal-ugly/configure.ac b/gstlal-ugly/configure.ac
index 35bd35ae98ccf8e7e0f70dd06ff5d0d286fab13c..219787f9cb862c62cb050fbe7fe729b23511ff87 100644
--- a/gstlal-ugly/configure.ac
+++ b/gstlal-ugly/configure.ac
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ case `cat /etc/redhat-release 2> /dev/null` in
     ;;
 esac
 LT_INIT
-PKG_PROG_PKG_CONFIG()
+PKG_PROG_PKG_CONFIG(0.18.0)
 
 MIN_DOXYGEN_VERSION="1.8.3"
 GSTLAL_DOXYGEN([$MIN_DOXYGEN_VERSION])
diff --git a/gstlal-ugly/debian/control.in b/gstlal-ugly/debian/control.in
index 2c1a4360dbdea92747df4fa28db23c5b5e2ec262..dab619532c4615e7747720c804491cda0b899721 100644
--- a/gstlal-ugly/debian/control.in
+++ b/gstlal-ugly/debian/control.in
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ Build-Depends:
  libgstreamer-plugins-base1.0-dev (>= @MIN_GSTREAMER_VERSION@),
  libnds2-client-dev (>= @MIN_NDS_VERSION@),
  liborc-0.4-dev (>= 1:@MIN_ORC_VERSION@),
- pkg-config,
+ pkg-config (>= 0.18.0),
  python-all-dev (>= @MIN_PYTHON_VERSION@),
  python-glue (>= @MIN_GLUE_VERSION@),
  python-glue-ligolw-tools,
diff --git a/gstlal-ugly/gstlal-ugly.spec.in b/gstlal-ugly/gstlal-ugly.spec.in
index 09041f5537e11037a48b30623791c5d5583b73d0..f8b70615546615a2c49196fef21c56fff0ad2ed0 100644
--- a/gstlal-ugly/gstlal-ugly.spec.in
+++ b/gstlal-ugly/gstlal-ugly.spec.in
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ Requires: gds-lowlatency >= @MIN_GDS_VERSION@
 Requires: nds2-client >= @MIN_NDS_VERSION@
 Requires: orc >= @MIN_ORC_VERSION@
 Requires: python-%{gstreamername}
+BuildRequires: pkgconfig >= 0.18.0
 BuildRequires: doxygen  >= @MIN_DOXYGEN_VERSION@
 BuildRequires: graphviz
 BuildRequires: gstlal-devel >= @MIN_GSTLAL_VERSION@
diff --git a/gstlal/configure.ac b/gstlal/configure.ac
index 4602306216d9d6402e443e278ce71ac7d8dd0c8f..cdb4cf936d0c5aa4965a991aebce07d4361a947e 100644
--- a/gstlal/configure.ac
+++ b/gstlal/configure.ac
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ case `cat /etc/redhat-release 2> /dev/null` in
     ;;
 esac
 LT_INIT
-PKG_PROG_PKG_CONFIG()
+PKG_PROG_PKG_CONFIG(0.18.0)
 
 MIN_DOXYGEN_VERSION="1.8.3"
 GSTLAL_DOXYGEN([$MIN_DOXYGEN_VERSION])
diff --git a/gstlal/debian/control.in b/gstlal/debian/control.in
index 18ab15e7b0e04831de1ffa7e443b6d521e0348fd..cf8065ee40ad2dc457e6d76c89c9f3ec0268ab3e 100644
--- a/gstlal/debian/control.in
+++ b/gstlal/debian/control.in
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ Build-Depends:
  libgstreamer-plugins-base1.0-dev (>= @MIN_GSTREAMER_VERSION@),
  libgstrtspserver-1.0-dev (>= @MIN_GSTREAMER_VERSION@),
  liborc-0.4-dev (>= 1:@MIN_ORC_VERSION@),
- pkg-config,
+ pkg-config (>= 0.18.0),
  python-all-dev (>= @MIN_PYTHON_VERSION@),
  python-gi-dev (>= @MIN_PYGOBJECT_VERSION@),
  python-numpy-dev (>= @MIN_NUMPY_VERSION@),
diff --git a/gstlal/gstlal.spec.in b/gstlal/gstlal.spec.in
index d3b38f1a30933575b49be2d40f55ca7e293b1b49..3ac27ace4c3f491f09f2e80710104a78ceaf2544 100644
--- a/gstlal/gstlal.spec.in
+++ b/gstlal/gstlal.spec.in
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ Requires: python-%{gstreamername}
 Requires: python-gobject >= @MIN_PYGOBJECT_VERSION@
 Requires: scipy
 Requires: zlib
+BuildRequires: pkgconfig >= 0.18.0
 BuildRequires: doxygen >= @MIN_DOXYGEN_VERSION@
 BuildRequires: fftw-devel >= 3
 BuildRequires: gobject-introspection-devel >= @MIN_GOBJECT_INTROSPECTION_VERSION@
diff --git a/gstlal/lib/gstlal/gstlal.pc.in b/gstlal/lib/gstlal/gstlal.pc.in
index ff143aeeb8332549e10424445c0b1b23680c847f..9f97fcf9a205c509dd1560de9c89382f5c381fb4 100644
--- a/gstlal/lib/gstlal/gstlal.pc.in
+++ b/gstlal/lib/gstlal/gstlal.pc.in
@@ -6,6 +6,6 @@ includedir=@includedir@
 Name: libgstlal
 Description: LAL/Gstreamer Library
 Version: @VERSION@
-Requires: fftw3 gsl lal lalframe lalmetaio lalsupport lalburst gstreamer-@GSTREAMER_RELEASE@ gstreamer-base-@GSTREAMER_RELEASE@ gstreamer-audio-@GSTREAMER_RELEASE@ gstreamer-video-@GSTREAMER_RELEASE@ gstreamer-plugins-base-@GSTREAMER_RELEASE@
+Requires.private: fftw3 gsl lal lalframe lalmetaio lalsupport lalburst gstreamer-@GSTREAMER_RELEASE@ gstreamer-base-@GSTREAMER_RELEASE@ gstreamer-audio-@GSTREAMER_RELEASE@ gstreamer-video-@GSTREAMER_RELEASE@ gstreamer-plugins-base-@GSTREAMER_RELEASE@
 Libs: -L${libdir} -lgstlal -lgstlaltags -lgstlaltypes
 Cflags: -I${includedir}