diff --git a/QGCExternalLibs.pri b/QGCExternalLibs.pri
index 8b7edd40fe3e9ce5fbb5a606d2bbe0f133870be5..15a74c099bb456d443906055b893e0ae347683ef 100644
--- a/QGCExternalLibs.pri
+++ b/QGCExternalLibs.pri
@@ -366,9 +366,7 @@ MacBuild {
         -F$$BASEDIR/libs/lib/Frameworks \
         -framework SDL
 } else:LinuxBuild {
-	LIBS += \
-		-lSDL \
-		-lSDLmain
+	PKGCONFIG = sdl
 } else:WindowsBuild {
 	INCLUDEPATH += \
         $$BASEDIR/libs/lib/sdl/msvc/include \
diff --git a/qgroundcontrol.pro b/qgroundcontrol.pro
index f5102c584623598fdd8f9b2c78359440bfdc02ab..96edf327fec012f4e3552de15726993839ec332f 100644
--- a/qgroundcontrol.pro
+++ b/qgroundcontrol.pro
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ message(Qt version $$[QT_VERSION])
 linux {
     linux-g++ | linux-g++-64 {
         message("Linux build")
-        CONFIG += LinuxBuild
+        CONFIG += LinuxBuild link_pkgconfig
     } else {
         error("Unsuported Linux toolchain, only GCC 32- or 64-bit is supported")
     }