diff --git a/package/pkgconfig/pkgconfig-filter.sh b/package/pkgconfig/pkgconfig-filter.sh
index 770e9317b5..f2bd75d8e0 100755
--- a/package/pkgconfig/pkgconfig-filter.sh
+++ b/package/pkgconfig/pkgconfig-filter.sh
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 # filter the output from pkg-config (renamed as pkg-config.real)
 # and ensures PKG_CONFIG_SYSROOT is prepended to all paths
 
+set -o pipefail
+
 CMD=$0
 
 if [ ! "$PKG_CONFIG_SYSROOT" ]; then
@@ -22,6 +24,5 @@ then
 	#echo "OKAY" >&2;
 	exit 0;
 else
-	echo "pkg-config failed!" >&2
 	exit $?
 fi