diff --git a/src/MicroCabal/Backend/MHS.hs b/src/MicroCabal/Backend/MHS.hs
index 1215aa8..a78a6ef 100644
--- a/src/MicroCabal/Backend/MHS.hs
+++ b/src/MicroCabal/Backend/MHS.hs
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import Data.List(dropWhileEnd, (\\), stripPrefix)
 import Data.Maybe
 import Data.Version
 import System.Directory
+import System.IO
 import MicroCabal.Cabal
 import MicroCabal.Env
 import MicroCabal.Macros
@@ -96,6 +97,7 @@ setupStdArgs env flds = do
       opts    = getFieldStrings flds []      "mhs-options"
       cppOpts = getFieldStrings flds []      "cpp-options"
       incs    = getFieldStrings flds []      "include-dirs"
+      lopts   = getFieldStrings flds []      "extra-libraries"
       exts'   = filter (`elem` mhsX) (exts ++ oexts)
       deps    = getBuildDependsPkg flds
       mhsX    = ["CPP"]
@@ -107,6 +109,7 @@ setupStdArgs env flds = do
     map ("-X" ++) exts' ++
     map ("-I" ++) incs ++
     opts ++
+    map ("-optl -l" ++) lopts ++
     macros ++
     cppOpts
 
@@ -172,21 +175,27 @@ mhsBuildLib env (Section _ _ glob) (Section _ name flds) = do
       pkgfn = distDir env ++ "/" ++ namever ++ ".pkg"
       cs  = getFieldStrings flds [] "c-sources"
       ldf = getFieldStrings flds [] "extra-libraries"
-      args = unwords $ map ("-optc " ++) cs ++
-                       map ("-optl -l" ++) ldf ++
-                       ["-P" ++ namever,
-                        "-o" ++ pkgfn] ++
-                       stdArgs ++
-                       ["-a."] ++
-                       mdls
+      cargs = map ("-optc " ++) cs
+      pargs = ["-P" ++ namever,
+               "-o" ++ pkgfn,
+               "-a."]
       isMdl (' ':_) = True   -- Relies on -L output format
       isMdl _ = False
-  mhs env args
+  mhs env $ unwords (stdArgs ++ cargs ++ pargs ++ mdls)
   pkgmdls <- words . unlines . filter isMdl . lines <$> mhsOut env ("-L" ++ pkgfn)
   let bad = pkgmdls \\ (mdls ++ omdls)
   when (not (null bad)) $ do
     message env (-1) "Warning: package modules not mentioned in exposed-modules nor other-modules"
     mapM_ (message env (-1)) bad
+  unless (null cs && null ldf) $ do
+    -- we are linking to some c lib so we test if the package compiles
+    when (verbose env > 0) $
+      putStrLn $ "Testing the library " ++ namever
+    (fn, h) <- tmpFile
+    hPutStr h $ unlines $ map ("import " ++) mdls ++ ["main = return ()"]
+    hFlush h >> hClose h
+    mhs env $ unwords $ stdArgs ++ cargs ++ ["-p" ++ pkgfn, "-o" ++ fn ++ ".bin", fn]
+    mapM_ removeFile [fn ++ ".bin", fn]
 
 mhsInstallExe :: Env -> Section -> Section -> IO ()
 mhsInstallExe env (Section _ _ _glob) (Section _ name _) = do
diff --git a/src/MicroCabal/Parse.hs b/src/MicroCabal/Parse.hs
index 658fcda..e2a105e 100644
--- a/src/MicroCabal/Parse.hs
+++ b/src/MicroCabal/Parse.hs
@@ -413,7 +413,7 @@ parsers =
   , "other-extensions"               # pVOptComma
   , "other-languages"                # (VItem <$> pItem)
   , "other-modules"                  # pVOptComma
-  , "pkgconfig-depends"              # pVComma
+  , "pkgconfig-depends"              # pVLibs
   , "virtual-modules"                # pVComma
   --- library fields
   , "visibility"                     # (VItem <$> pItem)
diff --git a/src/MicroCabal/Unix.hs b/src/MicroCabal/Unix.hs
index 2bb81e3..e811c83 100644
--- a/src/MicroCabal/Unix.hs
+++ b/src/MicroCabal/Unix.hs
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ module MicroCabal.Unix(
   gitClone,
   tarx,
   rmrf,
+  tmpFile,
   cp, cpr,
   copyFiles,
   preserveCurrentDirectory,