diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 74d0083ca..00eb62b00 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -158,8 +158,13 @@ def _pkg_config(name):
         if not DEBUG:
             command_libs.append('--silence-errors')
             command_cflags.append('--silence-errors')
-        libs = subprocess.check_output(command_libs).decode('utf8').strip().replace('-L', '')
-        cflags = subprocess.check_output(command_cflags).decode('utf8').strip().replace('-I', '')
+
+        libs = subprocess.check_output(command_libs).decode('utf8').strip()
+        libs = libs.replace('-L', '')
+
+        cflags = subprocess.check_output(command_cflags).decode('utf8').strip()
+        cflags = cflags.replace('-I', '')
+
         return (libs, cflags)
     except Exception:
         pass