diff --git a/Makefile.pre.in b/Makefile.pre.in
index a6beb96d12a3f2..912772d325b622 100644
--- a/Makefile.pre.in
+++ b/Makefile.pre.in
@@ -43,7 +43,6 @@ SOABI=		@SOABI@
 ABIFLAGS=	@ABIFLAGS@
 ABI_THREAD=	@ABI_THREAD@
 LDVERSION=	@LDVERSION@
-LIBPYTHON=@LIBPYTHON@
 GITVERSION=	@GITVERSION@
 GITTAG=		@GITTAG@
 GITBRANCH=	@GITBRANCH@
@@ -285,6 +284,7 @@ INSTSONAME=	@INSTSONAME@
 LIBRARY_DEPS=	@LIBRARY_DEPS@
 LINK_PYTHON_DEPS=@LINK_PYTHON_DEPS@
 PY_ENABLE_SHARED=	@PY_ENABLE_SHARED@
+LIBPYTHON=@LIBPYTHON@
 STATIC_LIBPYTHON=	@STATIC_LIBPYTHON@
 
 
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Build/2026-02-13-23-26-40.gh-issue-138800.wRCFW-.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Build/2026-02-13-23-26-40.gh-issue-138800.wRCFW-.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..980c07fc8df123
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Build/2026-02-13-23-26-40.gh-issue-138800.wRCFW-.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+fix variable substitution in python3.pc for Android
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index b1faeaf806a9c6..36f4c58583dd10 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -26953,7 +26953,7 @@ LIBPYTHON=''
 # On Android and Cygwin the shared libraries must be linked with libpython.
 if test "$PY_ENABLE_SHARED" = "1" && ( test -n "$ANDROID_API_LEVEL" || test "$MACHDEP" = "cygwin"); then
   MODULE_DEPS_SHARED="$MODULE_DEPS_SHARED \$(LDLIBRARY)"
-  LIBPYTHON="\$(BLDLIBRARY)"
+  LIBPYTHON="$(BLDLIBRARY)"
 fi
 
 # On iOS the shared libraries must be linked with the Python framework
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 043ec957f40894..53bed63310e75a 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -6424,7 +6424,7 @@ LIBPYTHON=''
 # On Android and Cygwin the shared libraries must be linked with libpython.
 if test "$PY_ENABLE_SHARED" = "1" && ( test -n "$ANDROID_API_LEVEL" || test "$MACHDEP" = "cygwin"); then
   MODULE_DEPS_SHARED="$MODULE_DEPS_SHARED \$(LDLIBRARY)"
-  LIBPYTHON="\$(BLDLIBRARY)"
+  LIBPYTHON="$(BLDLIBRARY)"
 fi
 
 # On iOS the shared libraries must be linked with the Python framework