diff --git a/.github/scripts/cmp-pkg-config.sh b/.github/scripts/cmp-pkg-config.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..37a316218c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/scripts/cmp-pkg-config.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Copyright (C) Viktor Szakats
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: curl
+
+# Sort list of libs, libpaths, cflags found in libcurl.pc and curl-config files,
+# then diff the autotools and cmake generated ones.
+
+sort_lists() {
+  prevline=''
+  section=''
+  while IFS= read -r l; do
+    if [[ "${prevline}" =~ (--cc|--configure) ]]; then  # curl-config
+      echo "<IGNORED>"
+    else
+      # libcurl.pc
+      if [[ "${l}" =~ ^(Requires|Libs|Cflags)(\.private)?:\ (.+)$ ]]; then
+        if [ "${BASH_REMATCH[1]}" = 'Requires' ]; then
+          # Spec does not allow duplicates here:
+          # https://manpages.debian.org/unstable/pkg-config/pkg-config.1.en.html#Requires:
+          # "You may only mention the same package one time on the Requires: line"
+          val="$(printf '%s' "${BASH_REMATCH[3]}" | tr ',' '\n' | sort | tr '\n' ' ')"
+        else
+          val="$(printf '%s' "${BASH_REMATCH[3]}" | tr ' ' '\n' | sort -u | tr '\n' ' ')"
+        fi
+        l="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}${BASH_REMATCH[2]}: ${val}"
+      # curl-config
+      elif [[ "${section}" =~ (--libs|--static-libs) && "${l}" =~ ^( *echo\ \")(.+)(\")$ ]]; then
+        val="$(printf '%s' "${BASH_REMATCH[2]}" | tr ' ' '\n' | sort -u | tr '\n' ' ')"
+        l="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}${val}${BASH_REMATCH[3]}"
+        section=''
+      fi
+      echo "${l}"
+    fi
+    # curl-config
+    prevline="${l}"
+    if [[ "${l}" =~ --[a-z-]+\) ]]; then
+      section="${BASH_REMATCH[0]}"
+    fi
+  done < "$1"
+}
+
+am=$(mktemp -t autotools.XXX); sort_lists "$1" > "${am}"
+cm=$(mktemp -t cmake.XXX)    ; sort_lists "$2" > "${cm}"
+diff -u "${am}" "${cm}"
+res="$?"
+rm -r -f "${am}" "${cm}"
+
+exit "${res}"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/configure-vs-cmake.yml b/.github/workflows/configure-vs-cmake.yml
index b7819f1075..b9960fd0bf 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/configure-vs-cmake.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/configure-vs-cmake.yml
@@ -37,14 +37,27 @@ jobs:
       - name: run configure --with-openssl
         run: |
           autoreconf -fi
-          ./configure --with-openssl --without-libpsl
+          export PKG_CONFIG_DEBUG_SPEW=1
+          mkdir bld-am && cd bld-am && ../configure --enable-static=no --with-openssl --without-libpsl --without-brotli --without-zstd
 
       - name: run cmake
         run: |
-          cmake -B build -DCURL_USE_LIBPSL=OFF
+          cmake -B bld-cm -DCURL_USE_LIBPSL=OFF
+
+      - name: 'configure log'
+        run: cat bld-am/config.log 2>/dev/null || true
+
+      - name: 'cmake log'
+        run: cat bld-cm/CMakeFiles/CMakeConfigureLog.yaml 2>/dev/null || true
 
       - name: compare generated curl_config.h files
-        run: ./.github/scripts/cmp-config.pl lib/curl_config.h build/lib/curl_config.h
+        run: ./.github/scripts/cmp-config.pl bld-am/lib/curl_config.h bld-cm/lib/curl_config.h
+
+      - name: compare generated libcurl.pc files
+        run: ./.github/scripts/cmp-pkg-config.sh bld-am/libcurl.pc bld-cm/libcurl.pc
+
+      - name: compare generated curl-config files
+        run: ./.github/scripts/cmp-pkg-config.sh bld-am/curl-config bld-cm/curl-config
 
   check-macos:
     runs-on: macos-latest
@@ -53,21 +66,38 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           while [[ $? == 0 ]]; do for i in 1 2 3; do brew update && brew install libtool autoconf automake && break 2 || { echo Error: wait to try again; sleep 10; } done; false Too many retries; done
 
+      - name: 'toolchain versions'
+        run: |
+         echo '::group::brew packages installed'; ls -l "$(brew --prefix)/opt"; echo '::endgroup::'
+
       - uses: actions/checkout@692973e3d937129bcbf40652eb9f2f61becf3332 # v4
 
       - name: run configure --with-openssl
         run: |
           autoreconf -fi
-          ./configure --with-openssl --without-libpsl
+          export PKG_CONFIG_DEBUG_SPEW=1
+          mkdir bld-am && cd bld-am && ../configure --enable-static=no --with-openssl --without-libpsl --disable-ldap
 
       - name: run cmake
         run: |
-          cmake -B build -DCURL_USE_LIBPSL=OFF \
+          cmake -B bld-cm -DCURL_USE_LIBPSL=OFF -DCURL_DISABLE_LDAP=ON \
             "-DCMAKE_C_COMPILER_TARGET=$(uname -m | sed 's/arm64/aarch64/')-apple-darwin$(uname -r)" \
             -DCURL_USE_LIBSSH2=OFF
 
+      - name: 'configure log'
+        run: cat bld-am/config.log 2>/dev/null || true
+
+      - name: 'cmake log'
+        run: cat bld-cm/CMakeFiles/CMakeConfigureLog.yaml 2>/dev/null || true
+
       - name: compare generated curl_config.h files
-        run: ./.github/scripts/cmp-config.pl lib/curl_config.h build/lib/curl_config.h
+        run: ./.github/scripts/cmp-config.pl bld-am/lib/curl_config.h bld-cm/lib/curl_config.h
+
+      - name: compare generated libcurl.pc files
+        run: ./.github/scripts/cmp-pkg-config.sh bld-am/libcurl.pc bld-cm/libcurl.pc
+
+      - name: compare generated curl-config files
+        run: ./.github/scripts/cmp-pkg-config.sh bld-am/curl-config bld-cm/curl-config
 
   check-windows:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
@@ -82,14 +112,27 @@ jobs:
       - name: run configure --with-schannel
         run: |
           autoreconf -fi
-          ./configure --with-schannel --without-libpsl --host=${TRIPLET}
+          export PKG_CONFIG_DEBUG_SPEW=1
+          mkdir bld-am && cd bld-am && ../configure --enable-static=no --with-schannel --without-libpsl --host=${TRIPLET}
 
       - name: run cmake
         run: |
-          cmake -B build -DCURL_USE_SCHANNEL=ON -DCURL_USE_LIBPSL=OFF \
+          cmake -B bld-cm -DCURL_USE_SCHANNEL=ON -DCURL_USE_LIBPSL=OFF \
             -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=Windows \
             -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER_TARGET=${TRIPLET} \
             -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=${TRIPLET}-gcc
 
+      - name: 'configure log'
+        run: cat bld-am/config.log 2>/dev/null || true
+
+      - name: 'cmake log'
+        run: cat bld-cm/CMakeFiles/CMakeConfigureLog.yaml 2>/dev/null || true
+
       - name: compare generated curl_config.h files
-        run: ./.github/scripts/cmp-config.pl lib/curl_config.h build/lib/curl_config.h
+        run: ./.github/scripts/cmp-config.pl bld-am/lib/curl_config.h bld-cm/lib/curl_config.h
+
+      - name: compare generated libcurl.pc files
+        run: ./.github/scripts/cmp-pkg-config.sh bld-am/libcurl.pc bld-cm/libcurl.pc
+
+      - name: compare generated curl-config files
+        run: ./.github/scripts/cmp-pkg-config.sh bld-am/curl-config bld-cm/curl-config
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 498e6cdf18..dc49368148 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1077,7 +1077,7 @@ if(CURL_USE_LIBPSL)
 endif()
 
 # libssh2
-option(CURL_USE_LIBSSH2 "Use libssh2" ON)  # FIXME: default is OFF in autotools
+option(CURL_USE_LIBSSH2 "Use libssh2" ON)
 mark_as_advanced(CURL_USE_LIBSSH2)
 set(USE_LIBSSH2 OFF)
 
@@ -1948,9 +1948,17 @@ if(NOT CURL_DISABLE_INSTALL)
   set(VERSIONNUM              "${CURL_VERSION_NUM}")
   set(prefix                  "${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}")
   set(exec_prefix             "\${prefix}")
-  set(includedir              "\${prefix}/include")
+  if(IS_ABSOLUTE ${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR})
+    set(includedir            "${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}")
+  else()
+    set(includedir            "\${prefix}/${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}")
+  endif()
+  if(IS_ABSOLUTE ${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR})
+    set(libdir                "${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR}")
+  else()
+    set(libdir                "\${exec_prefix}/${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR}")
+  endif()
   set(LDFLAGS                 "${CMAKE_SHARED_LINKER_FLAGS}")
-  set(libdir                  "${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/lib")
   # "a" (Linux) or "lib" (Windows)
   string(REPLACE "." "" libext "${CMAKE_STATIC_LIBRARY_SUFFIX}")
 
@@ -1983,7 +1991,12 @@ if(NOT CURL_DISABLE_INSTALL)
     endif()
   endforeach()
 
-  foreach(_lib IN LISTS CMAKE_C_IMPLICIT_LINK_LIBRARIES CURL_LIBS)
+  unset(_implicit_libs)
+  if(NOT MINGW AND NOT UNIX)
+    set(_implicit_libs ${CMAKE_C_IMPLICIT_LINK_LIBRARIES})
+  endif()
+
+  foreach(_lib IN LISTS _implicit_libs CURL_LIBS)
     if(TARGET "${_lib}")
       set(_libname "${_lib}")
       get_target_property(_imported "${_libname}" IMPORTED)
@@ -2029,8 +2042,8 @@ if(NOT CURL_DISABLE_INSTALL)
   if(_ldflags)
     list(REMOVE_DUPLICATES _ldflags)
     string(REPLACE ";" " " _ldflags "${_ldflags}")
-    set(LIBCURL_PC_LIBS_PRIVATE "${_ldflags} ${LIBCURL_PC_LIBS_PRIVATE}")
-    string(STRIP "${LIBCURL_PC_LIBS_PRIVATE}" LIBCURL_PC_LIBS_PRIVATE)
+    set(LDFLAGS "${LDFLAGS} ${_ldflags}")
+    string(STRIP "${LDFLAGS}" LDFLAGS)
   endif()
   set(LIBCURL_PC_CFLAGS_PRIVATE "-DCURL_STATICLIB")
 
@@ -2097,6 +2110,11 @@ if(NOT CURL_DISABLE_INSTALL)
   #   prefix
   #   SUPPORT_FEATURES
   #   SUPPORT_PROTOCOLS
+  # Documentation:
+  #   https://people.freedesktop.org/~dbn/pkg-config-guide.html
+  #   https://manpages.debian.org/unstable/pkgconf/pkg-config.1.en.html
+  #   https://manpages.debian.org/unstable/pkg-config/pkg-config.1.en.html
+  #   https://www.msys2.org/docs/pkgconfig/
   configure_file(
     "${CURL_SOURCE_DIR}/libcurl.pc.in"
     "${CURL_BINARY_DIR}/libcurl.pc" @ONLY)
diff --git a/acinclude.m4 b/acinclude.m4
index 9f5e373d12..5476c9a8ee 100644
--- a/acinclude.m4
+++ b/acinclude.m4
@@ -1304,7 +1304,7 @@ AS_HELP_STRING([--without-ca-path], [Don't use a default CA path]),
   fi
 
   if test "x$ca" != "xno"; then
-    CURL_CA_BUNDLE='"'$ca'"'
+    CURL_CA_BUNDLE="$ca"
     AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(CURL_CA_BUNDLE, "$ca", [Location of default ca bundle])
     AC_SUBST(CURL_CA_BUNDLE)
     AC_MSG_RESULT([$ca])
diff --git a/curl-config.in b/curl-config.in
index 294e083ec7..2dc40edcdc 100644
--- a/curl-config.in
+++ b/curl-config.in
@@ -25,13 +25,13 @@
 
 # shellcheck disable=SC2006
 
-prefix="@prefix@"
-# Used in @libdir@
+prefix='@prefix@'
+# Used in 'libdir'
 # shellcheck disable=SC2034
-exec_prefix=@exec_prefix@
+exec_prefix="@exec_prefix@"
 # shellcheck disable=SC2034
-includedir=@includedir@
-cppflag_curl_staticlib=@LIBCURL_PC_CFLAGS@
+includedir="@includedir@"
+cppflag_curl_staticlib='@LIBCURL_PC_CFLAGS@'
 
 usage()
 {
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ while test "$#" -gt 0; do
     ;;
 
   --feature|--features)
-    for feature in @SUPPORT_FEATURES@ ""; do
+    for feature in @SUPPORT_FEATURES@ ''; do
       test -n "$feature" && echo "$feature"
     done
     ;;
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ while test "$#" -gt 0; do
     ;;
 
   --checkfor)
-    checkfor=$2
+    checkfor="$2"
     cmajor=`echo "$checkfor" | cut -d. -f1`
     cminor=`echo "$checkfor" | cut -d. -f2`
     # when extracting the patch part we strip off everything after a
@@ -142,12 +142,12 @@ while test "$#" -gt 0; do
     ;;
 
   --cflags)
-    if test "X$cppflag_curl_staticlib" = "X-DCURL_STATICLIB"; then
-      CPPFLAG_CURL_STATICLIB="-DCURL_STATICLIB "
+    if test "X$cppflag_curl_staticlib" = 'X-DCURL_STATICLIB'; then
+      CPPFLAG_CURL_STATICLIB='-DCURL_STATICLIB '
     else
-      CPPFLAG_CURL_STATICLIB=""
+      CPPFLAG_CURL_STATICLIB=''
     fi
-    if test "X@includedir@" = "X/usr/include"; then
+    if test "X@includedir@" = 'X/usr/include'; then
       echo "${CPPFLAG_CURL_STATICLIB}"
     else
       echo "${CPPFLAG_CURL_STATICLIB}-I@includedir@"
@@ -155,12 +155,12 @@ while test "$#" -gt 0; do
     ;;
 
   --libs)
-    if test "X@libdir@" != "X/usr/lib" -a "X@libdir@" != "X/usr/lib64"; then
+    if test "X@libdir@" != 'X/usr/lib' -a "X@libdir@" != 'X/usr/lib64'; then
       CURLLIBDIR="-L@libdir@ "
     else
-      CURLLIBDIR=""
+      CURLLIBDIR=''
     fi
-    if test "X@ENABLE_SHARED@" = "Xno"; then
+    if test 'X@ENABLE_SHARED@' = 'Xno'; then
       echo "${CURLLIBDIR}-lcurl @LIBCURL_PC_LIBS_PRIVATE@"
     else
       echo "${CURLLIBDIR}-lcurl"
@@ -172,8 +172,8 @@ while test "$#" -gt 0; do
     ;;
 
   --static-libs)
-    if test "X@ENABLE_STATIC@" != "Xno" ; then
-      echo "@libdir@/libcurl.@libext@" @LDFLAGS@ @LIBCURL_PC_LIBS_PRIVATE@
+    if test 'X@ENABLE_STATIC@' != 'Xno'; then
+      echo "@libdir@/libcurl.@libext@ @LDFLAGS@ @LIBCURL_PC_LIBS_PRIVATE@"
     else
       echo 'curl was built with static libraries disabled' >&2
       exit 1
diff --git a/libcurl.pc.in b/libcurl.pc.in
index 8f6f9b4f5a..4c60a7ec76 100644
--- a/libcurl.pc.in
+++ b/libcurl.pc.in
@@ -31,11 +31,11 @@ supported_features="@SUPPORT_FEATURES@"
 
 Name: libcurl
 URL: https://curl.se/
-Description: Library to transfer files with ftp, http, etc.
+Description: Library to transfer files with HTTP, FTP, etc.
 Version: @CURLVERSION@
 Requires: @LIBCURL_PC_REQUIRES@
 Requires.private: @LIBCURL_PC_REQUIRES_PRIVATE@
 Libs: -L${libdir} -lcurl @LIBCURL_PC_LIBS@
-Libs.private: @LIBCURL_PC_LIBS_PRIVATE@
+Libs.private: @LDFLAGS@ @LIBCURL_PC_LIBS_PRIVATE@
 Cflags: -I${includedir} @LIBCURL_PC_CFLAGS@
 Cflags.private: @LIBCURL_PC_CFLAGS_PRIVATE@