diff --git a/tools/notcurses-core.pc.in b/tools/notcurses-core.pc.in
index 037fb9ea2..27bccc7e2 100644
--- a/tools/notcurses-core.pc.in
+++ b/tools/notcurses-core.pc.in
@@ -10,5 +10,5 @@ Version: @PROJECT_VERSION@
 Requires:
 Requires.private: tinfo
 Libs: -L${libdir} -lnotcurses-core
-Libs.private: -lunistring -lstdc++ -lm
+Libs.private: -lunistring -lm
 Cflags: -I${includedir}
diff --git a/tools/notcurses.pc.in b/tools/notcurses.pc.in
index 5ca46a743..fef5d86a6 100644
--- a/tools/notcurses.pc.in
+++ b/tools/notcurses.pc.in
@@ -10,5 +10,5 @@ Version: @PROJECT_VERSION@
 Requires: notcurses-core
 Requires.private:
 Libs: -L${libdir} -lnotcurses
-Libs.private:
+Libs.private: -lstdc++
 Cflags: -I${includedir}