diff --git a/vips.pc.in b/vips.pc.in
index ed9a1cf4..9dbc14b2 100644
--- a/vips.pc.in
+++ b/vips.pc.in
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ Name: vips
 Description: Image processing library
 Version: @VERSION@
 Requires.private: @PACKAGES_USED@
-Libs: -L${libdir} -lvips -pthread
+Libs: -L${libdir} -lvips 
 Libs.private: @EXTRA_LIBS_USED@
 Cflags: -I${includedir}