diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 5d6b9d1a520..e6af8408edc 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -356,10 +356,11 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "cargo-credential-gnome-secret"
-version = "0.3.0"
+version = "0.3.1"
 dependencies = [
+ "anyhow",
  "cargo-credential",
- "pkg-config",
+ "libloading",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1978,6 +1979,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "pkg-config",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "libloading"
+version = "0.8.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "d580318f95776505201b28cf98eb1fa5e4be3b689633ba6a3e6cd880ff22d8cb"
+dependencies = [
+ "cfg-if",
+ "windows-sys",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "libm"
 version = "0.2.7"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 3016804277f..9a267f9bff0 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ lazy_static = "1.4.0"
 lazycell = "1.3.0"
 libc = "0.2.147"
 libgit2-sys = "0.15.2"
+libloading = "0.8.0"
 memchr = "2.5.0"
 miow = "0.6.0"
 opener = "0.6.1"
diff --git a/credential/cargo-credential-gnome-secret/Cargo.toml b/credential/cargo-credential-gnome-secret/Cargo.toml
index 3916bfc031d..e88790c542b 100644
--- a/credential/cargo-credential-gnome-secret/Cargo.toml
+++ b/credential/cargo-credential-gnome-secret/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 [package]
 name = "cargo-credential-gnome-secret"
-version = "0.3.0"
+version = "0.3.1"
 edition.workspace = true
 license.workspace = true
 repository = "https://github.com/rust-lang/cargo"
 description = "A Cargo credential process that stores tokens with GNOME libsecret."
 
 [dependencies]
+anyhow.workspace = true
 cargo-credential.workspace = true
+libloading.workspace = true
 
-[build-dependencies]
-pkg-config.workspace = true
diff --git a/credential/cargo-credential-gnome-secret/build.rs b/credential/cargo-credential-gnome-secret/build.rs
deleted file mode 100644
index 8bb86ee434d..00000000000
--- a/credential/cargo-credential-gnome-secret/build.rs
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,8 +0,0 @@
-fn main() {
-    if cfg!(target_os = "linux") {
-        // TODO: Consider ignoring errors when libsecret is not installed and
-        // switching the impl to UnsupportedCredential (possibly along with a
-        // warning?).
-        pkg_config::probe_library("libsecret-1").unwrap();
-    }
-}
diff --git a/credential/cargo-credential-gnome-secret/src/libsecret.rs b/credential/cargo-credential-gnome-secret/src/libsecret.rs
index 98a66fbd89b..44fc4dea4f5 100644
--- a/credential/cargo-credential-gnome-secret/src/libsecret.rs
+++ b/credential/cargo-credential-gnome-secret/src/libsecret.rs
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 //! Implementation of the libsecret credential helper.
 
+use anyhow::Context;
 use cargo_credential::{
     read_token, Action, CacheControl, Credential, CredentialResponse, Error, RegistryInfo, Secret,
 };
+use libloading::{Library, Symbol};
 use std::ffi::{CStr, CString};
 use std::os::raw::{c_char, c_int};
 use std::ptr::{null, null_mut};
@@ -52,29 +54,27 @@ enum SecretSchemaAttributeType {
     String = 0,
 }
 
-extern "C" {
-    fn secret_password_store_sync(
-        schema: *const SecretSchema,
-        collection: *const gchar,
-        label: *const gchar,
-        password: *const gchar,
-        cancellable: *mut GCancellable,
-        error: *mut *mut GError,
-        ...
-    ) -> gboolean;
-    fn secret_password_clear_sync(
-        schema: *const SecretSchema,
-        cancellable: *mut GCancellable,
-        error: *mut *mut GError,
-        ...
-    ) -> gboolean;
-    fn secret_password_lookup_sync(
-        schema: *const SecretSchema,
-        cancellable: *mut GCancellable,
-        error: *mut *mut GError,
-        ...
-    ) -> *mut gchar;
-}
+type SecretPasswordStoreSync = extern "C" fn(
+    schema: *const SecretSchema,
+    collection: *const gchar,
+    label: *const gchar,
+    password: *const gchar,
+    cancellable: *mut GCancellable,
+    error: *mut *mut GError,
+    ...
+) -> gboolean;
+type SecretPasswordClearSync = extern "C" fn(
+    schema: *const SecretSchema,
+    cancellable: *mut GCancellable,
+    error: *mut *mut GError,
+    ...
+) -> gboolean;
+type SecretPasswordLookupSync = extern "C" fn(
+    schema: *const SecretSchema,
+    cancellable: *mut GCancellable,
+    error: *mut *mut GError,
+    ...
+) -> *mut gchar;
 
 pub struct GnomeSecret;
 
@@ -105,6 +105,26 @@ impl Credential for GnomeSecret {
         action: &Action,
         _args: &[&str],
     ) -> Result<CredentialResponse, Error> {
+        // Dynamically load libsecret to avoid users needing to install
+        // additional -dev packages when building this provider.
+        let lib;
+        let secret_password_lookup_sync: Symbol<SecretPasswordLookupSync>;
+        let secret_password_store_sync: Symbol<SecretPasswordStoreSync>;
+        let secret_password_clear_sync: Symbol<SecretPasswordClearSync>;
+        unsafe {
+            lib = Library::new("libsecret-1.so").context(
+                "failed to load libsecret: try installing the `libsecret` \
+                or `libsecret-1-0` package with the system package manager",
+            )?;
+            secret_password_lookup_sync = lib
+                .get(b"secret_password_lookup_sync\0")
+                .map_err(Box::new)?;
+            secret_password_store_sync =
+                lib.get(b"secret_password_store_sync\0").map_err(Box::new)?;
+            secret_password_clear_sync =
+                lib.get(b"secret_password_clear_sync\0").map_err(Box::new)?;
+        }
+
         let index_url_c = CString::new(registry.index_url).unwrap();
         match action {
             cargo_credential::Action::Get(_) => {