diff --git a/gnu/local.mk b/gnu/local.mk
index 215b75f771..1ad8249d77 100644
--- a/gnu/local.mk
+++ b/gnu/local.mk
@@ -1236,6 +1236,7 @@ dist_patch_DATA =						\
   %D%/packages/patches/lierolibre-newer-libconfig.patch		\
   %D%/packages/patches/lierolibre-remove-arch-warning.patch	\
   %D%/packages/patches/lierolibre-try-building-other-arch.patch	\
+  %D%/packages/patches/linbox-fix-pkgconfig.patch		\
   %D%/packages/patches/linkchecker-tests-require-network.patch	\
   %D%/packages/patches/linphoneqt-tabbutton.patch		\
   %D%/packages/patches/linux-libre-fix-atheros-9271.patch	\
diff --git a/gnu/packages/algebra.scm b/gnu/packages/algebra.scm
index 9041178d21..c9ff1b8948 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/algebra.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/algebra.scm
@@ -1365,14 +1365,15 @@ (define-public linbox
               (file-name (git-file-name name version))
               (sha256
                (base32
-                "10j6dspbsq7d2l4q3y0c1l1xwmaqqba2fxg59q5bhgk9h5d7q571"))))
+                "10j6dspbsq7d2l4q3y0c1l1xwmaqqba2fxg59q5bhgk9h5d7q571"))
+              (patches (search-patches "linbox-fix-pkgconfig.patch"))))
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
     (native-inputs
      `(("autoconf" ,autoconf)
        ("automake" ,automake)
        ("libtool" ,libtool)
        ("pkg-config" ,pkg-config)))
-    (inputs
+    (propagated-inputs
      `(("fflas-ffpack" ,fflas-ffpack)))
     (synopsis "C++ library for linear algebra over exact rings")
     (description
diff --git a/gnu/packages/patches/linbox-fix-pkgconfig.patch b/gnu/packages/patches/linbox-fix-pkgconfig.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c93915fb1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gnu/packages/patches/linbox-fix-pkgconfig.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+Backported from:
+
+From 426eb97ba762c7663884f57ead0909f2aa3cd6a5 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
+From: Cyril Bouvier <cyril.bouvier@lirmm.fr>
+Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2019 16:32:19 +0100
+Subject: [PATCH] Remove @LINBOXSAGE_LIBS@ from linbox.pc.in
+
+---
+ linbox.pc.in | 2 +-
+ 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
+
+diff --git a/linbox.pc.in b/linbox.pc.in
+index 278f127e4..c6b8091eb 100644
+--- a/linbox.pc.in
++++ b/linbox.pc.in
+@@ -9,6 +9,6 @@ Description: Exact Linear Algebra library
+ URL: http://github.com/linbox-team/linbox
+ Version: @VERSION@
+ Requires: fflas-ffpack >= 2.4.0, givaro >= 4.1.0
+-Libs: -L${libdir} -llinbox @LINBOXSAGE_LIBS@ @NTL_LIBS@ @MPFR_LIBS@ @FPLLL_LIBS@ @IML_LIBS@ @FLINT_LIBS@ @OCL_LIBS@
++Libs: -L${libdir} -llinbox @NTL_LIBS@ @MPFR_LIBS@ @FPLLL_LIBS@ @IML_LIBS@ @FLINT_LIBS@ @OCL_LIBS@
+ Cflags: @DEFAULT_CFLAGS@ -DDISABLE_COMMENTATOR -I${includedir} @NTL_CFLAGS@ @MPFR_CFLAGS@ @FPLLL_CFLAGS@  @IML_CFLAGS@ @FLINT_CFLAGS@ 
+ \-------------------------------------------------------