diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/qemu/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/qemu/package.py
index d595989e014..a1f745203bb 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/qemu/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/qemu/package.py
@@ -103,3 +103,4 @@ class Qemu(AutotoolsPackage):
 
     depends_on('glib@2.40:')
     depends_on('pixman@0.21.8:')
+    depends_on('pkgconfig', type='build')