diff -Naur pil/setup.py b/setup.py
--- pil/setup.py	2015-12-11 16:42:40.817701332 -0600
+++ b/setup.py	2015-12-11 17:07:34.778477132 -0600
@@ -34,10 +34,10 @@
 # TIFF_ROOT = libinclude("/opt/tiff")
 
 TCL_ROOT = None
-JPEG_ROOT = None
-ZLIB_ROOT = None
+JPEG_ROOT = tuple(os.environ['JPEG_ROOT'].split('|')) if 'JPEG_ROOT' in os.environ else None
+ZLIB_ROOT = tuple(os.environ['ZLIB_ROOT'].split('|')) if 'ZLIB_ROOT' in os.environ else None
 TIFF_ROOT = None
-FREETYPE_ROOT = None
+FREETYPE_ROOT = tuple(os.environ['FREETYPE_ROOT'].split('|')) if 'FREETYPE_ROOT' in os.environ else None
 LCMS_ROOT = None
 
 # FIXME: add mechanism to explicitly *disable* the use of a library
@@ -127,29 +127,6 @@
 
         add_directory(include_dirs, "libImaging")
 
-        #
-        # add platform directories
-
-        if sys.platform == "cygwin":
-            # pythonX.Y.dll.a is in the /usr/lib/pythonX.Y/config directory
-            add_directory(library_dirs, os.path.join(
-                "/usr/lib", "python%s" % sys.version[:3], "config"
-                ))
-
-        elif sys.platform == "darwin":
-            # attempt to make sure we pick freetype2 over other versions
-            add_directory(include_dirs, "/sw/include/freetype2")
-            add_directory(include_dirs, "/sw/lib/freetype2/include")
-            # fink installation directories
-            add_directory(library_dirs, "/sw/lib")
-            add_directory(include_dirs, "/sw/include")
-            # darwin ports installation directories
-            add_directory(library_dirs, "/opt/local/lib")
-            add_directory(include_dirs, "/opt/local/include")
-
-        add_directory(library_dirs, "/usr/local/lib")
-        # FIXME: check /opt/stuff directories here?
-
         prefix = sysconfig.get_config_var("prefix")
         if prefix:
             add_directory(library_dirs, os.path.join(prefix, "lib"))
@@ -199,22 +176,6 @@
             add_directory(include_dirs, include_root)
 
         #
-        # add standard directories
-
-        # look for tcl specific subdirectory (e.g debian)
-        if _tkinter:
-            tcl_dir = "/usr/include/tcl" + TCL_VERSION
-            if os.path.isfile(os.path.join(tcl_dir, "tk.h")):
-                add_directory(include_dirs, tcl_dir)
-
-        # standard locations
-        add_directory(library_dirs, "/usr/local/lib")
-        add_directory(include_dirs, "/usr/local/include")
-
-        add_directory(library_dirs, "/usr/lib")
-        add_directory(include_dirs, "/usr/include")
-
-        #
         # insert new dirs *before* default libs, to avoid conflicts
         # between Python PYD stub libs and real libraries
 
@@ -299,8 +260,6 @@
             defs.append(("HAVE_LIBZ", None))
         if sys.platform == "win32":
             libs.extend(["kernel32", "user32", "gdi32"])
-        if struct.unpack("h", "\0\1")[0] == 1:
-            defs.append(("WORDS_BIGENDIAN", None))
 
         exts = [(Extension(
             "_imaging", files, libraries=libs, define_macros=defs
