diff --git a/internal/cmd/buildtool/android_test.go b/internal/cmd/buildtool/android_test.go
index b5f9ffc762..30169927bf 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/buildtool/android_test.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/buildtool/android_test.go
@@ -1054,8 +1054,36 @@ func TestAndroidBuildCdepsLibevent(t *testing.T) {
 			Env: []string{},
 			Argv: []string{
 				"rm",
-				"-rf",
-				faketopdir + "/internal/cmd/buildtool/internal/libtor/android/arm/lib/pkgconfig",
+				"-f",
+				faketopdir + "/internal/cmd/buildtool/internal/libtor/android/arm/lib/pkgconfig/libevent.pc",
+			},
+		}, {
+			Env: []string{},
+			Argv: []string{
+				"rm",
+				"-f",
+				faketopdir + "/internal/cmd/buildtool/internal/libtor/android/arm/lib/pkgconfig/libevent_core.pc",
+			},
+		}, {
+			Env: []string{},
+			Argv: []string{
+				"rm",
+				"-f",
+				faketopdir + "/internal/cmd/buildtool/internal/libtor/android/arm/lib/pkgconfig/libevent_extra.pc",
+			},
+		}, {
+			Env: []string{},
+			Argv: []string{
+				"rm",
+				"-f",
+				faketopdir + "/internal/cmd/buildtool/internal/libtor/android/arm/lib/pkgconfig/libevent_openssl.pc",
+			},
+		}, {
+			Env: []string{},
+			Argv: []string{
+				"rm",
+				"-f",
+				faketopdir + "/internal/cmd/buildtool/internal/libtor/android/arm/lib/pkgconfig/libevent_pthreads.pc",
 			},
 		}, {
 			Env: []string{},
@@ -1205,8 +1233,36 @@ func TestAndroidBuildCdepsLibevent(t *testing.T) {
 			Env: []string{},
 			Argv: []string{
 				"rm",
-				"-rf",
-				faketopdir + "/internal/cmd/buildtool/internal/libtor/android/arm64/lib/pkgconfig",
+				"-f",
+				faketopdir + "/internal/cmd/buildtool/internal/libtor/android/arm64/lib/pkgconfig/libevent.pc",
+			},
+		}, {
+			Env: []string{},
+			Argv: []string{
+				"rm",
+				"-f",
+				faketopdir + "/internal/cmd/buildtool/internal/libtor/android/arm64/lib/pkgconfig/libevent_core.pc",
+			},
+		}, {
+			Env: []string{},
+			Argv: []string{
+				"rm",
+				"-f",
+				faketopdir + "/internal/cmd/buildtool/internal/libtor/android/arm64/lib/pkgconfig/libevent_extra.pc",
+			},
+		}, {
+			Env: []string{},
+			Argv: []string{
+				"rm",
+				"-f",
+				faketopdir + "/internal/cmd/buildtool/internal/libtor/android/arm64/lib/pkgconfig/libevent_openssl.pc",
+			},
+		}, {
+			Env: []string{},
+			Argv: []string{
+				"rm",
+				"-f",
+				faketopdir + "/internal/cmd/buildtool/internal/libtor/android/arm64/lib/pkgconfig/libevent_pthreads.pc",
 			},
 		}, {
 			Env: []string{},
@@ -1356,8 +1412,36 @@ func TestAndroidBuildCdepsLibevent(t *testing.T) {
 			Env: []string{},
 			Argv: []string{
 				"rm",
-				"-rf",
-				faketopdir + "/internal/cmd/buildtool/internal/libtor/android/386/lib/pkgconfig",
+				"-f",
+				faketopdir + "/internal/cmd/buildtool/internal/libtor/android/386/lib/pkgconfig/libevent.pc",
+			},
+		}, {
+			Env: []string{},
+			Argv: []string{
+				"rm",
+				"-f",
+				faketopdir + "/internal/cmd/buildtool/internal/libtor/android/386/lib/pkgconfig/libevent_core.pc",
+			},
+		}, {
+			Env: []string{},
+			Argv: []string{
+				"rm",
+				"-f",
+				faketopdir + "/internal/cmd/buildtool/internal/libtor/android/386/lib/pkgconfig/libevent_extra.pc",
+			},
+		}, {
+			Env: []string{},
+			Argv: []string{
+				"rm",
+				"-f",
+				faketopdir + "/internal/cmd/buildtool/internal/libtor/android/386/lib/pkgconfig/libevent_openssl.pc",
+			},
+		}, {
+			Env: []string{},
+			Argv: []string{
+				"rm",
+				"-f",
+				faketopdir + "/internal/cmd/buildtool/internal/libtor/android/386/lib/pkgconfig/libevent_pthreads.pc",
 			},
 		}, {
 			Env: []string{},
@@ -1507,8 +1591,36 @@ func TestAndroidBuildCdepsLibevent(t *testing.T) {
 			Env: []string{},
 			Argv: []string{
 				"rm",
-				"-rf",
-				faketopdir + "/internal/cmd/buildtool/internal/libtor/android/amd64/lib/pkgconfig",
+				"-f",
+				faketopdir + "/internal/cmd/buildtool/internal/libtor/android/amd64/lib/pkgconfig/libevent.pc",
+			},
+		}, {
+			Env: []string{},
+			Argv: []string{
+				"rm",
+				"-f",
+				faketopdir + "/internal/cmd/buildtool/internal/libtor/android/amd64/lib/pkgconfig/libevent_core.pc",
+			},
+		}, {
+			Env: []string{},
+			Argv: []string{
+				"rm",
+				"-f",
+				faketopdir + "/internal/cmd/buildtool/internal/libtor/android/amd64/lib/pkgconfig/libevent_extra.pc",
+			},
+		}, {
+			Env: []string{},
+			Argv: []string{
+				"rm",
+				"-f",
+				faketopdir + "/internal/cmd/buildtool/internal/libtor/android/amd64/lib/pkgconfig/libevent_openssl.pc",
+			},
+		}, {
+			Env: []string{},
+			Argv: []string{
+				"rm",
+				"-f",
+				faketopdir + "/internal/cmd/buildtool/internal/libtor/android/amd64/lib/pkgconfig/libevent_pthreads.pc",
 			},
 		}, {
 			Env: []string{},
diff --git a/internal/cmd/buildtool/cdepslibevent.go b/internal/cmd/buildtool/cdepslibevent.go
index f6b8504079..f9c6f6128d 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/buildtool/cdepslibevent.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/buildtool/cdepslibevent.go
@@ -63,7 +63,17 @@ func cdepsLibeventBuildMain(globalEnv *cBuildEnv, deps buildtoolmodel.Dependenci
 	must.Run(log.Log, "make", "V=1", "-j", strconv.Itoa(runtime.NumCPU()))
 	must.Run(log.Log, "make", "DESTDIR="+globalEnv.DESTDIR, "install")
 	must.Run(log.Log, "rm", "-rf", filepath.Join(globalEnv.DESTDIR, "bin"))
-	must.Run(log.Log, "rm", "-rf", filepath.Join(globalEnv.DESTDIR, "lib", "pkgconfig"))
+
+	// We used to delete the whole pkgconfig directory but libevent's build needs OpenSSL's
+	// pkgconfig, so removing the whole directory means rebuilding libevent requires building
+	// OpenSSL because its pkgconfig is also removed. We discovered this need when working
+	// on the https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/pull/1366 MVP. To keep the build idempotent,
+	// let's be more gentle and just remove libevent's pkgconfig files instead.
+	must.Run(log.Log, "rm", "-f", filepath.Join(globalEnv.DESTDIR, "lib", "pkgconfig", "libevent.pc"))
+	must.Run(log.Log, "rm", "-f", filepath.Join(globalEnv.DESTDIR, "lib", "pkgconfig", "libevent_core.pc"))
+	must.Run(log.Log, "rm", "-f", filepath.Join(globalEnv.DESTDIR, "lib", "pkgconfig", "libevent_extra.pc"))
+	must.Run(log.Log, "rm", "-f", filepath.Join(globalEnv.DESTDIR, "lib", "pkgconfig", "libevent_openssl.pc"))
+	must.Run(log.Log, "rm", "-f", filepath.Join(globalEnv.DESTDIR, "lib", "pkgconfig", "libevent_pthreads.pc"))
 
 	// we just need libevent.a
 	must.Run(log.Log, "rm", "-rf", filepath.Join(globalEnv.DESTDIR, "lib", "libevent.la"))
diff --git a/internal/cmd/buildtool/linuxcdeps_test.go b/internal/cmd/buildtool/linuxcdeps_test.go
index 549bb79ac3..40d4b5817e 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/buildtool/linuxcdeps_test.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/buildtool/linuxcdeps_test.go
@@ -221,8 +221,36 @@ func TestLinuxCdepsBuildMain(t *testing.T) {
 			Env: []string{},
 			Argv: []string{
 				"rm",
-				"-rf",
-				faketopdir + "/" + sysDepDestDir + "/lib/pkgconfig",
+				"-f",
+				faketopdir + "/" + sysDepDestDir + "/lib/pkgconfig/libevent.pc",
+			},
+		}, {
+			Env: []string{},
+			Argv: []string{
+				"rm",
+				"-f",
+				faketopdir + "/" + sysDepDestDir + "/lib/pkgconfig/libevent_core.pc",
+			},
+		}, {
+			Env: []string{},
+			Argv: []string{
+				"rm",
+				"-f",
+				faketopdir + "/" + sysDepDestDir + "/lib/pkgconfig/libevent_extra.pc",
+			},
+		}, {
+			Env: []string{},
+			Argv: []string{
+				"rm",
+				"-f",
+				faketopdir + "/" + sysDepDestDir + "/lib/pkgconfig/libevent_openssl.pc",
+			},
+		}, {
+			Env: []string{},
+			Argv: []string{
+				"rm",
+				"-f",
+				faketopdir + "/" + sysDepDestDir + "/lib/pkgconfig/libevent_pthreads.pc",
 			},
 		}, {
 			Env: []string{},