diff --git a/etc/spack/defaults/modules.yaml b/etc/spack/defaults/modules.yaml
index 1d91b0c88c4..77c976510bd 100644
--- a/etc/spack/defaults/modules.yaml
+++ b/etc/spack/defaults/modules.yaml
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ modules:
       - PKG_CONFIG_PATH
     lib64/pkgconfig:
       - PKG_CONFIG_PATH
+    share/pkgconfig:
+      - PKG_CONFIG_PATH
     '':
       - CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH
 
diff --git a/lib/spack/docs/environments.rst b/lib/spack/docs/environments.rst
index 664e6e2cce8..6ce67f0067a 100644
--- a/lib/spack/docs/environments.rst
+++ b/lib/spack/docs/environments.rst
@@ -764,7 +764,7 @@ ACLOCAL_PATH        share/aclocal
 LD_LIBRARY_PATH     lib, lib64
 LIBRARY_PATH        lib, lib64
 CPATH               include
-PKG_CONFIG_PATH     lib/pkgconfig, lib64/pkgconfig
+PKG_CONFIG_PATH     lib/pkgconfig, lib64/pkgconfig, share/pkgconfig
 CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH   .
 =================== =========
 
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/environment.py b/lib/spack/spack/environment.py
index adb062d1cbc..84c77df6b0e 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/environment.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/environment.py
@@ -949,7 +949,8 @@ def _shell_vars(self):
             ('LD_LIBRARY_PATH', ['lib', 'lib64']),
             ('LIBRARY_PATH', ['lib', 'lib64']),
             ('CPATH', ['include']),
-            ('PKG_CONFIG_PATH', ['lib/pkgconfig', 'lib64/pkgconfig']),
+            ('PKG_CONFIG_PATH', ['lib/pkgconfig', 'lib64/pkgconfig',
+                                 'share/pkgconfig']),
             ('CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH', ['']),
         ]
 
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/test/config.py b/lib/spack/spack/test/config.py
index 631fbabe8b8..163fc392d3d 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/test/config.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/test/config.py
@@ -507,6 +507,7 @@ def test_keys_are_ordered():
         'include',
         'lib/pkgconfig',
         'lib64/pkgconfig',
+        'share/pkgconfig',
         ''
     )
 
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/test/data/config/modules.yaml b/lib/spack/spack/test/data/config/modules.yaml
index adc16e896b2..f610087fb18 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/test/data/config/modules.yaml
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/test/data/config/modules.yaml
@@ -37,5 +37,7 @@ modules:
       - PKG_CONFIG_PATH
     lib64/pkgconfig:
       - PKG_CONFIG_PATH
+    share/pkgconfig:
+      - PKG_CONFIG_PATH
     '':
       - CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/test/environment_modifications.py b/lib/spack/spack/test/environment_modifications.py
index a57ac743640..1e1759ddbc9 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/test/environment_modifications.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/test/environment_modifications.py
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ def test_inspect_path(tmpdir):
         'include': ['CPATH'],
         'lib/pkgconfig': ['PKG_CONFIG_PATH'],
         'lib64/pkgconfig': ['PKG_CONFIG_PATH'],
+        'share/pkgconfig': ['PKG_CONFIG_PATH'],
         '': ['CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH']
     }