diff --git a/darshan-util/pydarshan/pyproject.toml b/darshan-util/pydarshan/pyproject.toml
index c0bd8c2fd..c17e7c70d 100644
--- a/darshan-util/pydarshan/pyproject.toml
+++ b/darshan-util/pydarshan/pyproject.toml
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ before-all = [
     "make install"
 ]
 before-build = [
-    "export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:$PWD/darshan_install",
+    "export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:$PWD/darshan_install/lib",
     "echo LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH",
     "echo PYDARSHAN_BUILD_EXT=$PYDARSHAN_BUILD_EXT"
 ]