diff --git a/pkgs/tools/graphics/gnuplot/set-gdfontpath-from-fontconfig.sh b/pkgs/tools/graphics/gnuplot/set-gdfontpath-from-fontconfig.sh
index 4886b4f2b7c0..92ad2e97b5b4 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/graphics/gnuplot/set-gdfontpath-from-fontconfig.sh
+++ b/pkgs/tools/graphics/gnuplot/set-gdfontpath-from-fontconfig.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-p=( $(for n in $(fc-list | sed -r -e 's|^([^:]+):.*$|\1|'); do echo $(dirname "$n"); done | sort | uniq) )
+p=( $(fc-list : file | sed "s@/[^/]*: @@" | sort -u) )
 IFS=:
 export GDFONTPATH="${GDFONTPATH}${GDFONTPATH:+:}${p[*]}"
 unset IFS p