diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Build/2026-03-07-02-09-57.gh-issue-138800.VD8qbz.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Build/2026-03-07-02-09-57.gh-issue-138800.VD8qbz.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..b04da2e2c6852f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Build/2026-03-07-02-09-57.gh-issue-138800.VD8qbz.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+fix LIBPYTHON substitution in python3.pc on Android
diff --git a/Modules/makesetup b/Modules/makesetup
index 104c824b846540..4d0ef59edeca83 100755
--- a/Modules/makesetup
+++ b/Modules/makesetup
@@ -277,7 +277,7 @@ sed -e 's/[ 	]*#.*//' -e '/^[ 	]*$/d' |
 				;;
 			esac
 			rule="$file: $objs \$(MODULE_${mods_upper}_LDEPS)"
-			rule="$rule; \$(BLDSHARED) $objs $libs \$(LIBPYTHON) -o $file"
+			rule="$rule; \$(BLDSHARED) $objs $libs \$(BLDLIBRARY) -o $file"
 			echo "$rule" >>$rulesf
 		done
 	done
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index eca5f03cdcfb2d..0fac5a47f460c8 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -27085,7 +27085,7 @@ LIBPYTHON=''
 # On Android and Cygwin the shared libraries must be linked with libpython.
 if test "$PY_ENABLE_SHARED" = "1" && ( test -n "$ANDROID_API_LEVEL" || test "$MACHDEP" = "cygwin"); then
   MODULE_DEPS_SHARED="$MODULE_DEPS_SHARED \$(LDLIBRARY)"
-  LIBPYTHON="\$(BLDLIBRARY)"
+  LIBPYTHON="-lpython${VERSION}${ABIFLAGS}"
 fi
 
 # On iOS the shared libraries must be linked with the Python framework
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index c21024a1e77433..8e7c741f3d37ce 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -6488,7 +6488,7 @@ LIBPYTHON=''
 # On Android and Cygwin the shared libraries must be linked with libpython.
 if test "$PY_ENABLE_SHARED" = "1" && ( test -n "$ANDROID_API_LEVEL" || test "$MACHDEP" = "cygwin"); then
   MODULE_DEPS_SHARED="$MODULE_DEPS_SHARED \$(LDLIBRARY)"
-  LIBPYTHON="\$(BLDLIBRARY)"
+  LIBPYTHON="-lpython${VERSION}${ABIFLAGS}"
 fi
 
 # On iOS the shared libraries must be linked with the Python framework