diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index d2c44dc40d..7a1199dd2e 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -289,7 +289,21 @@ if(PYBIND11_INSTALL)
 
   # pkg-config support
   if(NOT prefix_for_pc_file)
-    set(prefix_for_pc_file "${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}")
+    if(IS_ABSOLUTE "${CMAKE_INSTALL_DATAROOTDIR}")
+      set(prefix_for_pc_file "${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}")
+    else()
+      set(pc_datarootdir "${CMAKE_INSTALL_DATAROOTDIR}")
+      if(CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_LESS 3.20)
+        set(prefix_for_pc_file "\${pcfiledir}/..")
+        while(pc_datarootdir)
+          get_filename_component(pc_datarootdir "${pc_datarootdir}" DIRECTORY)
+          string(APPEND prefix_for_pc_file "/..")
+        endwhile()
+      else()
+        cmake_path(RELATIVE_PATH CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX BASE_DIRECTORY CMAKE_INSTALL_DATAROOTDIR
+                   OUTPUT_VARIABLE prefix_for_pc_file)
+      endif()
+    endif()
   endif()
   join_paths(includedir_for_pc_file "\${prefix}" "${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}")
   configure_file("${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/tools/pybind11.pc.in"