diff --git a/src/Makefile b/src/Makefile
index fe30a96..174931f 100644
--- a/src/Makefile
+++ b/src/Makefile
@@ -43,15 +43,20 @@ ALL_CFLAGS += $(CFLAGS) 						\
 ALL_LDFLAGS += $(LDFLAGS) $(EXTRA_LDFLAGS)
 
 ifeq ($(shell command -v $(PKG_CONFIG) 2> /dev/null),)
-NO_PKG_CONFIG := 1
+$(error pkg-config not found)
 endif
-ifdef NO_PKG_CONFIG
-	ALL_LDFLAGS += -lelf -lz
-else
-	ALL_CFLAGS += $(shell $(PKG_CONFIG) --cflags libelf zlib)
-	ALL_LDFLAGS += $(shell $(PKG_CONFIG) --libs libelf zlib)
+
+ifneq ($(shell $(PKG_CONFIG) --env-only --exists libelf && echo true),true)
+$(error libelf not found)
 endif
 
+ifneq ($(shell $(PKG_CONFIG) --env-only --exists zlib && echo true),true)
+$(error zlib not found)
+endif
+
+ALL_CFLAGS += $(shell $(PKG_CONFIG) --env-only --cflags libelf zlib)
+ALL_LDFLAGS += $(shell $(PKG_CONFIG) --env-only --libs libelf zlib)
+
 OBJDIR ?= .
 SHARED_OBJDIR := $(OBJDIR)/sharedobjs
 STATIC_OBJDIR := $(OBJDIR)/staticobjs