diff --git a/m4/virt-wireshark.m4 b/m4/virt-wireshark.m4
index e1e4a598d6..eb6c8a6021 100644
--- a/m4/virt-wireshark.m4
+++ b/m4/virt-wireshark.m4
@@ -29,10 +29,11 @@ AC_DEFUN([LIBVIRT_CHECK_WIRESHARK],[
   if test "x$with_wireshark_dissector" != "xno" ; then
     if test "x$with_ws_plugindir" = "xcheck" ; then
       plugindir="$($PKG_CONFIG --variable plugindir wireshark)"
+      ws_modversion="$($PKG_CONFIG --modversion wireshark)"
       if test "x$plugindir" = "x" ; then
         dnl On some systems the plugindir variable may not be stored within pkg config.
         dnl Fall back to older style of constructing the plugin dir path.
-        plugindir="$libdir/wireshark/plugins/$($PKG_CONFIG --modversion wireshark)"
+        plugindir="$libdir/wireshark/plugins/$ws_modversion"
       else
         ws_prefix="$($PKG_CONFIG --variable prefix wireshark)"
         if test "x$ws_prefix" = "x" ; then