diff --git a/sys-libs/readline/readline-8.2_p13-r1.ebuild b/sys-libs/readline/readline-8.2_p13-r1.ebuild
index 714eb85b5a816..29f55a7d24fbb 100644
--- a/sys-libs/readline/readline-8.2_p13-r1.ebuild
+++ b/sys-libs/readline/readline-8.2_p13-r1.ebuild
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# Copyright 1999-2025 Gentoo Authors
+# Copyright 1999-2026 Gentoo Authors
 # Distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License v2
 
 EAPI=7
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ src_prepare() {
 
 	is_release || eautoreconf
 
-	if use prefix && [[ ! -x "${BROOT}"/usr/bin/pkg-config ]] ; then
+	if use prefix && [[ -n ${STAGE} ]] ; then
 		# If we're bootstrapping, make a guess. We don't have pkg-config
 		# around yet. bug #818103.
 		# Incorrectly populating this leads to underlinked libreadline.
diff --git a/sys-libs/readline/readline-8.3_p1.ebuild b/sys-libs/readline/readline-8.3_p1.ebuild
index f4c269fab238d..9cb20578f4cf0 100644
--- a/sys-libs/readline/readline-8.3_p1.ebuild
+++ b/sys-libs/readline/readline-8.3_p1.ebuild
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# Copyright 1999-2025 Gentoo Authors
+# Copyright 1999-2026 Gentoo Authors
 # Distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License v2
 
 EAPI=8
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ src_prepare() {
 
 	#(( PLEVEL < 0 )) && eautoreconf
 
-	if use prefix && [[ ! -x "${BROOT}"/usr/bin/pkg-config ]] ; then
+	if use prefix && [[ -n ${STAGE} ]] ; then
 		# If we're bootstrapping, make a guess. We don't have pkg-config
 		# around yet. bug #818103.
 		# Incorrectly populating this leads to underlinked libreadline.
diff --git a/sys-libs/readline/readline-8.3_p3.ebuild b/sys-libs/readline/readline-8.3_p3.ebuild
index 09b16343ef165..236229ef6d735 100644
--- a/sys-libs/readline/readline-8.3_p3.ebuild
+++ b/sys-libs/readline/readline-8.3_p3.ebuild
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# Copyright 1999-2025 Gentoo Authors
+# Copyright 1999-2026 Gentoo Authors
 # Distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License v2
 
 EAPI=8
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ src_prepare() {
 
 	#(( PLEVEL < 0 )) && eautoreconf
 
-	if use prefix && [[ ! -x "${BROOT}"/usr/bin/pkg-config ]] ; then
+	if use prefix && [[ -n ${STAGE} ]] ; then
 		# If we're bootstrapping, make a guess. We don't have pkg-config
 		# around yet. bug #818103.
 		# Incorrectly populating this leads to underlinked libreadline.
diff --git a/sys-libs/readline/readline-8.4_alpha_pre20251007.ebuild b/sys-libs/readline/readline-8.4_alpha_pre20251007.ebuild
index 4c2c15370e885..b6cfe4de3649e 100644
--- a/sys-libs/readline/readline-8.4_alpha_pre20251007.ebuild
+++ b/sys-libs/readline/readline-8.4_alpha_pre20251007.ebuild
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# Copyright 1999-2025 Gentoo Authors
+# Copyright 1999-2026 Gentoo Authors
 # Distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License v2
 
 EAPI=8
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ src_prepare() {
 
 	#(( PLEVEL < 0 )) && eautoreconf
 
-	if use prefix && [[ ! -x "${BROOT}"/usr/bin/pkg-config ]] ; then
+	if use prefix && [[ -n ${STAGE} ]] ; then
 		# If we're bootstrapping, make a guess. We don't have pkg-config
 		# around yet. bug #818103.
 		# Incorrectly populating this leads to underlinked libreadline.
diff --git a/sys-libs/readline/readline-9999.ebuild b/sys-libs/readline/readline-9999.ebuild
index 09b16343ef165..236229ef6d735 100644
--- a/sys-libs/readline/readline-9999.ebuild
+++ b/sys-libs/readline/readline-9999.ebuild
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# Copyright 1999-2025 Gentoo Authors
+# Copyright 1999-2026 Gentoo Authors
 # Distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License v2
 
 EAPI=8
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ src_prepare() {
 
 	#(( PLEVEL < 0 )) && eautoreconf
 
-	if use prefix && [[ ! -x "${BROOT}"/usr/bin/pkg-config ]] ; then
+	if use prefix && [[ -n ${STAGE} ]] ; then
 		# If we're bootstrapping, make a guess. We don't have pkg-config
 		# around yet. bug #818103.
 		# Incorrectly populating this leads to underlinked libreadline.