diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index c67f724a9b2..6997029267d 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -397,7 +397,7 @@ class PyBuildExt(build_ext):
         exts.append( Extension('_socket', ['socketmodule.c'],
                                depends = ['socketmodule.h']) )
         # Detect SSL support for the socket module (via _ssl)
-        ssl_incs = find_file('openssl/ssl.h', inc_dirs,
+        ssl_incs = find_file('openssl/ssl.h', self.compiler.include_dirs,
                              ['/usr/local/ssl/include',
                               '/usr/contrib/ssl/include/'
                              ]