diff --git a/changelog.d/2627.change.rst b/changelog.d/2627.change.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1da9a681a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/2627.change.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Honor `runtime_library_dirs` on macOS by passing `-rpath` to the linker
diff --git a/setuptools/_distutils/unixccompiler.py b/setuptools/_distutils/unixccompiler.py
index 4d7a6de740..7fe2eeefed 100644
--- a/setuptools/_distutils/unixccompiler.py
+++ b/setuptools/_distutils/unixccompiler.py
@@ -233,8 +233,7 @@ def runtime_library_dir_option(self, dir):
         # we use this hack.
         compiler = os.path.basename(sysconfig.get_config_var("CC"))
         if sys.platform[:6] == "darwin":
-            # MacOSX's linker doesn't understand the -R flag at all
-            return "-L" + dir
+            return "-Wl,-rpath," + dir
         elif sys.platform[:7] == "freebsd":
             return "-Wl,-rpath=" + dir
         elif sys.platform[:5] == "hp-ux":