diff --git a/wx/lib/wxcairo/wx_pycairo.py b/wx/lib/wxcairo/wx_pycairo.py
index 19a28dd131f659cd596de280bc52f3f7fb1acb5f..dc6bea6afb36e4197fac990877b7112ade84d6f4 100644
--- a/wx/lib/wxcairo/wx_pycairo.py
+++ b/wx/lib/wxcairo/wx_pycairo.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ import ctypes.util
 #----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 # A reference to the cairo shared lib via ctypes.CDLL
-cairoLib = None
+cairoLib = ctypes.CDLL("@libcairo@")
 
 # A reference to the pycairo C API structure
 pycairoAPI = None
@@ -196,7 +196,11 @@ def _findCairoLib():
 
 # For other DLLs we'll just use a dictionary to track them, as there
 # probably isn't any need to use them outside of this module.
-_dlls = dict()
+_dlls = {
+    "gdk": ctypes.CDLL("@libgdk@"),
+    "pangocairo": ctypes.CDLL("@libpangocairo@"),
+    "appsvc": ctypes.CDLL(None),
+}
 
 def _findHelper(names, key, msg):
     dll = _dlls.get(key, None)