diff --git a/lib/dunemodules.lib b/lib/dunemodules.lib
index f16ad8944e5ad8f42186bfd3ae65477df6489b05..30412cd9c33cf45143f96c0c10987b432ef8b373 100644
--- a/lib/dunemodules.lib
+++ b/lib/dunemodules.lib
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ setup_control_path() {
   if test -z $DUNE_CONTROL_PATH; then
     DUNE_CONTROL_PATH=.
     # try pkg-config locations
-    if pkg-config dune-common; then
+    if ! pkg-config dune-common; then
       # try usual locations of installed modules
       for i in /usr/local/lib/dunecontrol/ /usr/lib/dunecontrol/; do
         if test -d $i; then