diff --git a/src/build/makedep.c b/src/build/makedep.c
index 3990b3318d7..046e653f0b8 100644
--- a/src/build/makedep.c
+++ b/src/build/makedep.c
@@ -144,6 +144,12 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 			argnum++;
 		}
 
+        else if (arg[0] == '-' && arg[1] == 'D')
+        {
+            // some pkgconfigs return defines (e.g. pkg-config QtGui --cflags) ==> ignore
+            argnum++;
+        }
+
 		// ignore -include which is used by sdlmame to include sdlprefix.h before all other includes
 		else if (strcmp(arg,"-include") == 0)
 		{