diff --git a/configure.py b/configure.py
index beb08df0884..e3f78f2fed0 100755
--- a/configure.py
+++ b/configure.py
@@ -680,7 +680,11 @@ def pkg_config(pkg):
   retval = ()
   for flag in ['--libs-only-l', '--cflags-only-I',
                '--libs-only-L', '--modversion']:
-    args += [flag, pkg]
+    args += [flag]
+    if isinstance(pkg, list):
+      args += pkg
+    else:
+      args += [pkg]
     try:
       proc = subprocess.Popen(shlex.split(pkg_config) + args,
                               stdout=subprocess.PIPE)