diff --git a/Doc/library/ctypes.rst b/Doc/library/ctypes.rst
index ef3a9a0f5898af4..ec36d24e154e9dc 100644
--- a/Doc/library/ctypes.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/ctypes.rst
@@ -1317,8 +1317,9 @@ the library to load.
 The exact functionality is system dependent.
 
 On Linux, :func:`~ctypes.util.find_library` tries to run external programs
-(``/sbin/ldconfig``, ``gcc``, ``objdump`` and ``ld``) to find the library file.
-It returns the filename of the library file.
+(``ldconfig``,  ``gcc``, ``objdump`` and ``ld``) to find the library file.
+Note that ``ldconfig`` falls back to using ``/sbin/ldconfig`` if it is not found on ``$PATH``.
+Unlike other distributions it returns only the filename of the library file.
 
 .. versionchanged:: 3.6
    On Linux, the value of the environment variable ``LD_LIBRARY_PATH`` is used
diff --git a/Lib/ctypes/util.py b/Lib/ctypes/util.py
index c550883e7c7d4b7..14c6d526dc0d47e 100644
--- a/Lib/ctypes/util.py
+++ b/Lib/ctypes/util.py
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ def find_library(name):
     from ctypes._aix import find_library
 
 elif os.name == "posix":
-    # Andreas Degert's find functions, using gcc, /sbin/ldconfig, objdump
+    # Andreas Degert's find functions, using gcc, ldconfig, objdump
     import re, tempfile
 
     def _is_elf(filename):
@@ -207,12 +207,13 @@ def _num_version(libname):
             return nums or [sys.maxsize]
 
         def find_library(name):
+            ldconfig_bin = shutil.which('ldconfig') or '/sbin/ldconfig'
             ename = re.escape(name)
             expr = r':-l%s\.\S+ => \S*/(lib%s\.\S+)' % (ename, ename)
             expr = os.fsencode(expr)
 
             try:
-                proc = subprocess.Popen(('/sbin/ldconfig', '-r'),
+                proc = subprocess.Popen((ldconfig_bin, '-r'),
                                         stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
                                         stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL)
             except OSError:  # E.g. command not found
@@ -269,8 +270,9 @@ def find_library(name, is64 = False):
             return _get_soname(_findLib_crle(name, is64) or _findLib_gcc(name))
 
     else:
-
+        # Linux distros and any others which did not match on sys.platform
         def _findSoname_ldconfig(name):
+            ldconfig_bin = shutil.which('ldconfig') or '/sbin/ldconfig'
             import struct
             if struct.calcsize('l') == 4:
                 machine = os.uname().machine + '-32'
@@ -284,12 +286,11 @@ def _findSoname_ldconfig(name):
                 'ia64-64': 'libc6,IA-64',
                 }
             abi_type = mach_map.get(machine, 'libc6')
-
             # XXX assuming GLIBC's ldconfig (with option -p)
             regex = r'\s+(lib%s\.[^\s]+)\s+\(%s'
             regex = os.fsencode(regex % (re.escape(name), abi_type))
             try:
-                with subprocess.Popen(['/sbin/ldconfig', '-p'],
+                with subprocess.Popen([ldconfig_bin, '-p'],
                                       stdin=subprocess.DEVNULL,
                                       stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL,
                                       stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core and Builtins/2023-11-27-01-07-27.gh-issue-112417.6UU0jx.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core and Builtins/2023-11-27-01-07-27.gh-issue-112417.6UU0jx.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000000..cdf52e1e22640c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core and Builtins/2023-11-27-01-07-27.gh-issue-112417.6UU0jx.rst	
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+For compatibility across Linux distros ``ctypes.util.find_library`` has been modified to favour a version of ``ldconfig`` on the current ``$PATH``, falling back to ``/sbin/ldconfig`` if there isn't another version available.