diff --git a/mesonbuild/dependencies/base.py b/mesonbuild/dependencies/base.py
index 94a6a6bb03eb..1787f1f0b980 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/dependencies/base.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/dependencies/base.py
@@ -616,7 +616,10 @@ def _call_pkgbin(self, args, env=None):
         else:
             env = env.copy()
 
-        extra_paths = self.env.coredata.get_builtin_option('pkg_config_path')
+        if self.want_cross:
+            extra_paths = self.env.coredata.get_builtin_option('cross_pkg_config_path')
+        else:
+            extra_paths = self.env.coredata.get_builtin_option('pkg_config_path')
         env['PKG_CONFIG_PATH'] = ':'.join([p for p in extra_paths])
         fenv = frozenset(env.items())
         targs = tuple(args)
diff --git a/run_unittests.py b/run_unittests.py
index 34307f67518f..97e5ef4046e0 100755
--- a/run_unittests.py
+++ b/run_unittests.py
@@ -5169,6 +5169,11 @@ def test_exe_wrapper_behaviour(self):
             # Must run in-process or we'll get a generic CalledProcessError
             self.run_tests(inprocess=True)
 
+    @skipIfNoPkgconfig
+    def test_cross_pkg_config_option(self):
+        testdir = os.path.join(self.unit_test_dir, '55 pkg_config_path option')
+        self.init(testdir, extra_args=['-Dcross_pkg_config_path=' + os.path.join(testdir, 'extra_path')])
+
 
 class PythonTests(BasePlatformTests):
     '''