diff --git a/.gitea/scripts/install-linux-build-dependencies.sh b/.gitea/scripts/install-linux-build-dependencies.sh
index 0a45570..1630291 100644
--- a/.gitea/scripts/install-linux-build-dependencies.sh
+++ b/.gitea/scripts/install-linux-build-dependencies.sh
@@ -79,6 +79,13 @@ case "$target" in
         for package in "$archives"/*.deb; do
             sudo dpkg-deb --extract "$package" "$sysroot"
         done
+
+        # Architecture-independent development packages may already be
+        # installed on the host, so apt does not download them again. Their
+        # pkg-config files contain no host binaries and are safe to reuse with
+        # PKG_CONFIG_SYSROOT_DIR, which redirects every path into this sysroot.
+        sudo mkdir -p "$sysroot/usr/share/pkgconfig"
+        sudo cp -a /usr/share/pkgconfig/. "$sysroot/usr/share/pkgconfig/"
         ;;
     *)
         echo "unsupported Linux build target: $target" >&2
diff --git a/crates/bds-ui/tests/packaging_assets.rs b/crates/bds-ui/tests/packaging_assets.rs
index cc0d787..a329db8 100644
--- a/crates/bds-ui/tests/packaging_assets.rs
+++ b/crates/bds-ui/tests/packaging_assets.rs
@@ -195,6 +195,7 @@ fn tagged_releases_are_built_and_packaged_with_rust_tools() {
         "Architectures: arm64",
         "--download-only",
         "dpkg-deb --extract",
+        "/usr/share/pkgconfig/.",
         "/opt/ruds-x64-sysroot",
     ] {
         assert!(