diff --git a/rules.mk.in b/rules.mk.in
index 4c0ea73f..8b6e2790 100644
--- a/rules.mk.in
+++ b/rules.mk.in
@@ -1,15 +1,7 @@
 # rules.mk
 
-prefix=@prefix@
-datadir=@datadir@
-libdir=@libdir@
-
-# shut up configure
-datarootdir=@datarootdir@
-
-repdir:=@repdir@
-repcommonexecdir:=@repcommonexecdir@
-rpath_repcommonexecdir:=@repcommonexecdir@
+repcommonexecdir?=$(shell pkg-config --variable=repcommonexecdir librep)
+rpath_repcommonexecdir:=$(repcommonexecdir)
 
 rep_LIBTOOL:=$(repcommonexecdir)/libtool --tag CC
 rep_INSTALL_ALIASES:=$(repcommonexecdir)/install-aliases