diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index a499157ac..3ec89916a 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -94,8 +94,8 @@ LDLIBS += -lreadline
 endif
 
 ifeq ($(ENABLE_PLUGINS),1)
-CXXFLAGS += -DYOSYS_ENABLE_PLUGINS
-LDLIBS += -lffi -ldl
+CXXFLAGS += -DYOSYS_ENABLE_PLUGINS $(shell pkg-config --silence-errors --cflags libffi)
+LDLIBS += $(shell pkg-config --silence-errors --libs libffi || echo -lffi) -ldl
 endif
 
 ifeq ($(ENABLE_TCL),1)