diff --git a/src/modules/tls/Makefile b/src/modules/tls/Makefile
index 48cb886619e..3b90ec8fd66 100644
--- a/src/modules/tls/Makefile
+++ b/src/modules/tls/Makefile
@@ -20,25 +20,41 @@ SSL_BUILDER=$(shell \
 	if pkg-config --exists libssl; then \
 		echo 'pkg-config libssl'; \
 	fi)
+CRYPTO_BUILDER=$(shell \
+	if pkg-config --exists libcrypto; then \
+		echo 'pkg-config libcrypto'; \
+	fi)
 endif
 
 ifneq ($(SSL_BUILDER),)
+
 ifneq ($(LIBSSL_STATIC),yes)
 	DEFS += $(shell $(SSL_BUILDER) --cflags)
 	LIBS += $(shell $(SSL_BUILDER) --libs)
-else
+
+ifneq ($(CRYPTO_BUILDER),)
+	DEFS += $(shell $(CRYPTO_BUILDER) --cflags)
+	LIBS += $(shell $(CRYPTO_BUILDER) --libs)
+endif # ifneq ($(CRYPTO_BUILDER),)
+
+else # $(LIBSSL_STATIC),yes)
+
 ifneq ($(LIBSSL_STATIC_SRCLIB),yes)
 	## when static libs (*.a) from packages are compiled with -fPIC
 	DEFS += $(shell $(SSL_BUILDER) --cflags)
 	LIBS += $(shell $(SSL_BUILDER) --libs-only-L)
+	# TODO: explore use of LIBS += -Wl,-Bstatic $(shell $(SSL_BUILDER) --libs-only-l)
 	LIBS += -l:libssl.a -l:libcrypto.a -l:libz.a -l:libdl.a
 else
 	## when linking against static libs compiled from sources
 	DEFS += -I$(LIBSSL_STATIC_SRCPATH)/include
 	LIBS += $(LIBSSL_STATIC_SRCPATH)/libssl.a $(LIBSSL_STATIC_SRCPATH)/libcrypto.a
 endif # ifneq ($(LIBSSL_STATIC_SRCLIB),yes)
+
 endif # ifneq ($(LIBSSL_STATIC),yes)
-else
+
+else # ifneq ($(SSL_BUILDER),)
+
 	DEFS += -I$(LOCALBASE)/ssl/include
 	LIBS += -L$(LOCALBASE)/lib -L$(LOCALBASE)/ssl/lib \
 			-L$(LOCALBASE)/lib64 -L$(LOCALBASE)/ssl/lib64 \
@@ -46,7 +62,8 @@ else
 	# NOTE: depending on the way in which libssl was compiled you might
 	#       have to add -lz -lkrb5   (zlib and kerberos5).
 	#       E.g.: make TLS_HOOKS=1 TLS_EXTRA_LIBS="-lz -lkrb5"
-endif
+
+endif # ifneq ($(SSL_BUILDER),)
 
 LIBS+= $(TLS_EXTRA_LIBS)