diff --git a/Modules/FindBLAS.cmake b/Modules/FindBLAS.cmake
index 6d60c9d86a..b6664dfe26 100644
--- a/Modules/FindBLAS.cmake
+++ b/Modules/FindBLAS.cmake
@@ -7,6 +7,11 @@ FindBLAS
 
 Find Basic Linear Algebra Subprograms (BLAS) library
 
+Version modified for Gentoo Linux.
+If a valid PkgConfig configuration is found, this overrides and cancels
+all further checks. The upstream behavior can be restored by defining
+GENTOO_REMOVE_CMAKE_BLAS_HACK
+
 This module finds an installed Fortran library that implements the
 `BLAS linear-algebra interface`_.
 
@@ -281,6 +286,11 @@ function(_add_blas_target)
   endif()
 endfunction()
 
+# first, try PkgConfig
+if(NOT DEFINED GENTOO_REMOVE_CMAKE_BLAS_HACK)
+  set(BLA_PREFER_PKGCONFIG ON)
+endif()
+
 if(CMAKE_Fortran_COMPILER_LOADED)
   include(${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/CheckFortranFunctionExists.cmake)
 else()