diff --git a/mesonbuild/compilers/__init__.py b/mesonbuild/compilers/__init__.py
index 6d9e8148fc7f..4dca53e4c9ea 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/compilers/__init__.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/compilers/__init__.py
@@ -106,6 +106,7 @@
     clink_langs,
     c_suffixes,
     cpp_suffixes,
+    get_compiler_is_linuxlike,
     get_base_compile_args,
     get_base_link_args,
     is_header,
diff --git a/mesonbuild/dependencies/base.py b/mesonbuild/dependencies/base.py
index 22f4c6f7f590..1fe0262bbea6 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/dependencies/base.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/dependencies/base.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
 
 from .. import mlog
 from .. import mesonlib
-from ..compilers import clib_langs
+from ..compilers import clib_langs, get_compiler_is_linuxlike
 from ..environment import BinaryTable, Environment, MachineInfo
 from ..cmake import CMakeExecutor, CMakeTraceParser, CMakeException
 from ..mesonlib import MachineChoice, MesonException, OrderedSet, PerMachine
@@ -710,16 +710,18 @@ def _set_cargs(self):
                                       (self.name, out))
         self.compile_args = self._convert_mingw_paths(shlex.split(out))
 
-    def _search_libs(self, out, out_raw):
+    def _search_libs(self, out, out_raw, out_all):
         '''
         @out: PKG_CONFIG_ALLOW_SYSTEM_LIBS=1 pkg-config --libs
         @out_raw: pkg-config --libs
+        @out_all: pkg-config --libs --static
 
         We always look for the file ourselves instead of depending on the
         compiler to find it with -lfoo or foo.lib (if possible) because:
         1. We want to be able to select static or shared
         2. We need the full path of the library to calculate RPATH values
         3. De-dup of libraries is easier when we have absolute paths
+        4. We need to find the directories in which secondary dependencies reside
 
         Libraries that are provided by the toolchain or are not found by
         find_library() will be added with -L -l pairs.
@@ -753,6 +755,18 @@ def _search_libs(self, out, out_raw):
                 continue
             if arg.startswith('-L') and arg[2:] not in prefix_libpaths:
                 system_libpaths.add(arg[2:])
+        # collect all secondary library paths
+        secondary_libpaths = OrderedSet()
+        all_args = self._convert_mingw_paths(shlex.split(out_all))
+        for arg in all_args:
+            if arg.startswith('-L') and not arg.startswith(('-L-l', '-L-L')):
+                path = arg[2:]
+                if not os.path.isabs(path):
+                    # Resolve the path as a compiler in the build directory would
+                    path = os.path.join(self.env.get_build_dir(), path)
+                if path not in prefix_libpaths and path not in system_libpaths:
+                    secondary_libpaths.add(path)
+
         # Use this re-ordered path list for library resolution
         libpaths = list(prefix_libpaths) + list(system_libpaths)
         # Track -lfoo libraries to avoid duplicate work
@@ -760,8 +774,12 @@ def _search_libs(self, out, out_raw):
         # Track not-found libraries to know whether to add library paths
         libs_notfound = []
         libtype = LibType.STATIC if self.static else LibType.PREFER_SHARED
-        # Generate link arguments for this library
+        # Generate link arguments for this library, by
+        # first appending secondary link arguments for ld
         link_args = []
+        if self.clib_compiler and get_compiler_is_linuxlike(self.clib_compiler):
+            link_args = ['-Wl,-rpath-link,' + p for p in secondary_libpaths]
+
         for lib in full_args:
             if lib.startswith(('-L-l', '-L-L')):
                 # These are D language arguments, add them as-is
@@ -831,6 +849,26 @@ def _set_libs(self):
         libcmd = [self.name, '--libs']
         if self.static:
             libcmd.append('--static')
+        # We need to find *all* secondary dependencies of a library
+        #
+        # Say we have libA.so, located in /non/standard/dir1/, and
+        # libB.so, located in /non/standard/dir2/, which links to
+        # libA.so. Now when linking exeC to libB.so, the linker will
+        # walk the complete symbol tree to determine that all undefined
+        # symbols can be resolved. Because libA.so lives in a directory
+        # not known to the linker by default, you will get errors like
+        #
+        #   ld: warning: libA.so, needed by /non/standard/dir2/libB.so,
+        #       not found (try using -rpath or -rpath-link)
+        #   ld: /non/standard/dir2/libB.so: undefined reference to `foo()'
+        #
+        # To solve this, we load the -L paths of *all* dependencies, by
+        # relying on --static to provide us with a complete picture. All
+        # -L paths that are found via a --static lookup but that are not
+        # contained in the normal lookup have to originate from secondary
+        # dependencies. See also:
+        #   http://www.kaizou.org/2015/01/linux-libraries/
+        libcmd_all = [self.name, '--libs', '--static']
         # Force pkg-config to output -L fields even if they are system
         # paths so we can do manual searching with cc.find_library() later.
         env = os.environ.copy()
@@ -846,7 +884,11 @@ def _set_libs(self):
         if ret != 0:
             raise DependencyException('Could not generate libs for %s:\n\n%s' %
                                       (self.name, out_raw))
-        self.link_args, self.raw_link_args = self._search_libs(out, out_raw)
+        ret, out_all = self._call_pkgbin(libcmd_all)
+        if ret != 0:
+            raise DependencyException('Could not generate libs for %s:\n\n%s' %
+                                      (self.name, out_all))
+        self.link_args, self.raw_link_args = self._search_libs(out, out_raw, out_all)
 
     def get_pkgconfig_variable(self, variable_name, kwargs):
         options = ['--variable=' + variable_name, self.name]