diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 42a096a8..6680820e 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@
 	* configure.ac: Use pkg-config to check for pcre presence and
 	fallback to the previous code if that doesn't work.
 
+	* configure.ac: Use pkg-config to check for openssl presence and
+	fallback to the previous code if that doesn't work.
+
 2014-07-28  Ángel González <keisial@gmail.com>
 	* contrib: Created contrib folder.
 	* contrib/tsocked-wget: Added wrapper for usage with socks proxy.
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 1b5407dc..0d170cbf 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -277,42 +277,50 @@ AS_IF([test x"$with_zlib" != xno], [
 ])
 
 AS_IF([test x"$with_ssl" = xopenssl], [
-  dnl As of this writing (OpenSSL 0.9.6), the libcrypto shared library
-  dnl doesn't record its dependency on libdl, so we need to make sure
-  dnl -ldl ends up in LIBS on systems that have it.  Most OSes use
-  dnl dlopen(), but HP-UX uses shl_load().
-  AC_CHECK_LIB(dl, dlopen, [], [
-    AC_CHECK_LIB(dl, shl_load)
-  ])
+  PKG_CHECK_MODULES([OPENSSL], [openssl], [
+    AC_MSG_NOTICE([compiling in support for SSL via OpenSSL])
+    AC_LIBOBJ([openssl])
+    LIBS="$OPENSSL_LIBS $LIBS"
+    CFLAGS="$OPENSSL_CFLAGS -DHAVE_LIBSSL $CFLAGS"
+    LIBSSL=" " # ntlm check below wants this
+    AC_DEFINE([HAVE_LIBSSL], [1], [Define if using openssl.])
+  ], [
+    dnl As of this writing (OpenSSL 0.9.6), the libcrypto shared library
+    dnl doesn't record its dependency on libdl, so we need to make sure
+    dnl -ldl ends up in LIBS on systems that have it.  Most OSes use
+    dnl dlopen(), but HP-UX uses shl_load().
+    AC_CHECK_LIB(dl, dlopen, [], [
+      AC_CHECK_LIB(dl, shl_load)
+    ])
 
-  ssl_found=no
-  case $host_os in
-    *mingw32* )
-      dnl prefer link to openssl dlls if possible. if not then fallback on static libs. if not then error
+    ssl_found=no
+    case $host_os in
+      *mingw32* )
+        dnl prefer link to openssl dlls if possible. if not then fallback on static libs. if not then error
 
-      AC_CHECK_LIB(eay32, EVP_MD_CTX_init)
-      if test x"$ac_cv_lib_eay32_EVP_MD_CTX_init" != xno
-      then
-        AC_CHECK_LIB(ssl32, SSL_connect, [
-          ssl_found=yes
-          AC_MSG_NOTICE([Enabling support for SSL via OpenSSL (shared)])
-          AC_LIBOBJ([openssl])
-          LIBS="${LIBS} -lssl32"
-          AC_DEFINE([HAVE_LIBSSL32], [1], [Define to 1 if you have the `ssl32' library (-lssl32).])
-        ],
-        AC_MSG_ERROR([openssl not found: shared lib eay32 found but ssl32 not found]))
+        AC_CHECK_LIB(eay32, EVP_MD_CTX_init)
+        if test x"$ac_cv_lib_eay32_EVP_MD_CTX_init" != xno
+        then
+          AC_CHECK_LIB(ssl32, SSL_connect, [
+            ssl_found=yes
+            AC_MSG_NOTICE([Enabling support for SSL via OpenSSL (shared)])
+            AC_LIBOBJ([openssl])
+            LIBS="${LIBS} -lssl32"
+            AC_DEFINE([HAVE_LIBSSL32], [1], [Define to 1 if you have the `ssl32' library (-lssl32).])
+          ],
+          AC_MSG_ERROR([openssl not found: shared lib eay32 found but ssl32 not found]))
 
-      else
-        LIBS+=' -lgdi32'
-        dnl fallback and test static libs
-      fi
-      dnl add zdll lib as dep for above tests?
-    ;;
-  esac
+        else
+          LIBS+=' -lgdi32'
+          dnl fallback and test static libs
+        fi
+        dnl add zdll lib as dep for above tests?
+      ;;
+    esac
 
-  AS_IF([test x$ssl_found != xyes], [
-    dnl Now actually check for -lssl if it wasn't already found
-    AC_LIB_HAVE_LINKFLAGS([ssl], [crypto], [
+    AS_IF([test x$ssl_found != xyes], [
+      dnl Now actually check for -lssl if it wasn't already found
+      AC_LIB_HAVE_LINKFLAGS([ssl], [crypto], [
 #include <openssl/ssl.h>
 #include <openssl/x509.h>
 #include <openssl/err.h>
@@ -320,19 +328,19 @@ AS_IF([test x"$with_ssl" = xopenssl], [
 #include <openssl/des.h>
 #include <openssl/md4.h>
 #include <openssl/md5.h>
-    ], [SSL_library_init ()])
-    if test x"$LIBSSL" != x
-    then
-      ssl_found=yes
-      AC_MSG_NOTICE([compiling in support for SSL via OpenSSL])
-      AC_LIBOBJ([openssl])
-      LIBS="$LIBSSL $LIBS"
-    elif test x"$with_ssl" != x
-    then
-      AC_MSG_ERROR([--with-ssl=openssl was given, but SSL is not available.])
-    fi
+      ], [SSL_library_init ()])
+      if test x"$LIBSSL" != x
+      then
+        ssl_found=yes
+        AC_MSG_NOTICE([compiling in support for SSL via OpenSSL])
+        AC_LIBOBJ([openssl])
+        LIBS="$LIBSSL $LIBS"
+      elif test x"$with_ssl" != x
+      then
+        AC_MSG_ERROR([--with-ssl=openssl was given, but SSL is not available.])
+      fi
+    ])
   ])
-
 ], [
   # --with-ssl is not openssl: check if it's no
   AS_IF([test x"$with_ssl" != xno], [