Pkgconf

pkgconf is a drop-in replacement for pkg-config (when symlinked). It provides the same functionality while retaining a smaller footprint. It also avoids linking or bundling third party libraries which makes it a better suited tool for minimal systems.

Tested on x86 and x86_64. Speaking of portability, Freebsd switched to pkgconf july last year which at least should be an indication on testing on more architectures than the one's I've tried.