diff --git a/libpkgconf/libpkgconf.h b/libpkgconf/libpkgconf.h
index 3653cb7..136ffec 100644
--- a/libpkgconf/libpkgconf.h
+++ b/libpkgconf/libpkgconf.h
@@ -238,5 +238,7 @@ void pkgconf_audit_log_dependency(const pkgconf_pkg_t *dep, const pkgconf_depend
 /* path.c */
 void pkgconf_path_add(const char *text, pkgconf_list_t *dirlist);
 size_t pkgconf_path_split(const char *text, pkgconf_list_t *dirlist);
+size_t pkgconf_path_build_from_environ(const char *environ, const char *fallback, pkgconf_list_t *dirlist);
+bool pkgconf_path_match_list(const char *path, pkgconf_list_t *dirlist);
 
 #endif
diff --git a/libpkgconf/path.c b/libpkgconf/path.c
index 424c35c..bb9b443 100644
--- a/libpkgconf/path.c
+++ b/libpkgconf/path.c
@@ -47,3 +47,34 @@ pkgconf_path_split(const char *text, pkgconf_list_t *dirlist)
 	return count;
 }
 
+size_t
+pkgconf_path_build_from_environ(const char *environ, const char *fallback, pkgconf_list_t *dirlist)
+{
+	const char *data;
+
+	data = getenv(environ);
+	if (data != NULL)
+		return pkgconf_path_split(data, dirlist);
+
+	if (fallback != NULL)
+		return pkgconf_path_split(fallback, dirlist);
+
+	/* no fallback and no environment variable, thusly no nodes added */
+	return 0;
+}
+
+bool
+pkgconf_path_match_list(const char *path, pkgconf_list_t *dirlist)
+{
+	pkgconf_node_t *n = NULL;
+
+	PKGCONF_FOREACH_LIST_ENTRY(dirlist->head, n)
+	{
+		pkgconf_path_t *pnode = n->data;
+
+		if (!strcmp(pnode->path, path))
+			return true;
+	}
+
+	return false;
+}
diff --git a/libpkgconf/pkg.c b/libpkgconf/pkg.c
index a7eff60..102a161 100644
--- a/libpkgconf/pkg.c
+++ b/libpkgconf/pkg.c
@@ -66,20 +66,13 @@ str_has_suffix(const char *str, const char *suffix)
 }
 
 static inline const char *
-get_pkgconfig_path(void)
+get_default_pkgconfig_path(void)
 {
-	const char *env_path;
 #ifdef _WIN32
 	static char outbuf[MAX_PATH];
 	char namebuf[MAX_PATH];
 	char *p;
-#endif
 
-	env_path = getenv("PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR");
-	if (env_path != NULL)
-		return env_path;
-
-#ifdef _WIN32
 	int sizepath = GetModuleFileName(NULL, namebuf, sizeof namebuf);
 	char * winslash;
 	namebuf[sizepath] = '\0';
@@ -127,21 +120,13 @@ static pkgconf_list_t pkg_dir_list = PKGCONF_LIST_INITIALIZER;
 static void
 pkgconf_pkg_dir_list_build(unsigned int flags)
 {
-	const char *env_path;
-
 	if (pkg_dir_list.head != NULL || pkg_dir_list.tail != NULL)
 		return;
 
-	/* PKG_CONFIG_PATH has to take precedence */
-	env_path = getenv("PKG_CONFIG_PATH");
-	if (env_path)
-		pkgconf_path_split(env_path, &pkg_dir_list);
+	pkgconf_path_build_from_environ("PKG_CONFIG_PATH", NULL, &pkg_dir_list);
 
 	if (!(flags & PKGCONF_PKG_PKGF_ENV_ONLY))
-	{
-		env_path = get_pkgconfig_path();
-		pkgconf_path_split(env_path, &pkg_dir_list);
-	}
+		pkgconf_path_build_from_environ("PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR", get_default_pkgconfig_path(), &pkg_dir_list);
 }
 
 typedef void (*pkgconf_pkg_parser_keyword_func_t)(pkgconf_pkg_t *pkg, const ptrdiff_t offset, char *value, unsigned int flags);
diff --git a/main.c b/main.c
index 2b3eb69..4e017e3 100644
--- a/main.c
+++ b/main.c
@@ -52,6 +52,9 @@
 
 static unsigned int global_traverse_flags = PKGCONF_PKG_PKGF_NONE;
 
+static pkgconf_list_t filter_libdirs = PKGCONF_LIST_INITIALIZER;
+static pkgconf_list_t filter_includedirs = PKGCONF_LIST_INITIALIZER;
+
 static uint64_t want_flags;
 static int maximum_traverse_depth = 2000;
 
@@ -68,51 +71,30 @@ error_handler(const char *msg)
 	return true;
 }
 
-static char *
-fallback_getenv(const char *envname, const char *fallback)
-{
-	const char *data = getenv(envname);
-
-	if (data == NULL)
-		data = fallback;
-
-	return strdup(data);
-}
-
 static bool
 fragment_has_system_dir(pkgconf_fragment_t *frag)
 {
 	int check_flags = 0;
-	char *check_paths = NULL;
-	char *save, *chunk;
-	bool ret = false;
+	pkgconf_list_t *check_paths = NULL;
 
 	switch (frag->type)
 	{
 	case 'L':
 		check_flags = PKG_KEEP_SYSTEM_LIBS;
-		check_paths = fallback_getenv("PKG_CONFIG_SYSTEM_LIBRARY_PATH", SYSTEM_LIBDIR);
+		check_paths = &filter_libdirs;
 		break;
 	case 'I':
 		check_flags = PKG_KEEP_SYSTEM_CFLAGS;
-		check_paths = fallback_getenv("PKG_CONFIG_SYSTEM_INCLUDE_PATH", SYSTEM_INCLUDEDIR);
+		check_paths = &filter_includedirs;
 		break;
 	default:
 		return false;
 	}
 
-	for (chunk = strtok_r(check_paths, ":", &save); chunk != NULL; chunk = strtok_r(NULL, ":", &save))
-	{
-		if ((want_flags & check_flags) == 0 && !strcmp(chunk, frag->data))
-		{
-			ret = true;
-			break;
-		}
-	}
+	if ((want_flags & check_flags) == 0)
+		return false;
 
-	free(check_paths);
-
-	return ret;
+	return pkgconf_path_match_list(frag->data, check_paths);
 }
 
 static void
@@ -708,6 +690,9 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		{ NULL, 0, NULL, 0 }
 	};
 
+	pkgconf_path_build_from_environ("PKG_CONFIG_SYSTEM_LIBRARY_PATH", SYSTEM_LIBDIR, &filter_libdirs);
+	pkgconf_path_build_from_environ("PKG_CONFIG_SYSTEM_INCLUDE_PATH", SYSTEM_INCLUDEDIR, &filter_includedirs);
+
 	while ((ret = pkg_getopt_long_only(argc, argv, "", options, NULL)) != -1)
 	{
 		switch (ret)