diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 915ec490a5..0b6c223291 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -776,6 +776,44 @@ def _check_rocm(self) -> None:
             _INSTALL_FAILED = True
 
 
+def _check_ld_config(lib: str) -> str:
+    """ Locate a library in ldconfig
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    lib: str The library to locate
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    str
+        The library from ldconfig, or empty string if not found
+    """
+    retval = ""
+    ldconfig = which("ldconfig")
+    if not ldconfig:
+        return retval
+
+    retval = next((line.decode("utf-8", errors="replace").strip()
+                  for line in run([ldconfig, "-p"],
+                                  capture_output=True,
+                                  check=False).stdout.splitlines()
+                  if lib.encode("utf-8") in line), "")
+
+    if retval or (not retval and not os.environ.get("LD_LIBRARY_PATH")):
+        return retval
+
+    for path in os.environ["LD_LIBRARY_PATH"].split(":"):
+        if not path:
+            continue
+
+        retval = next((fname.strip() for fname in reversed(os.listdir(path))
+                       if lib in fname), "")
+        if retval:
+            break
+
+    return retval
+
+
 class ROCmCheck():  # pylint:disable=too-few-public-methods
     """ Find the location of system installed ROCm on Linux """
     def __init__(self) -> None:
@@ -796,16 +834,7 @@ def _rocm_check(self) -> None:
         with ldconfig then attempt to find it in LD_LIBRARY_PATH. If found, set the
         :attr:`rocm_version` to the discovered version
         """
-        ldconfig = os.popen("which ldconfig").read()
-        if not ldconfig:
-            return
-        chk = os.popen(f"{ldconfig} -p | grep -P \"librocm-core.so.\\d+\" | head -n 1").read()
-        if not chk and os.environ.get("LD_LIBRARY_PATH"):
-            for path in os.environ["LD_LIBRARY_PATH"].split(":"):
-                chk = os.popen(f"ls {path} | grep -P -o \"librocmcore.so.\\d+\" | "
-                               "head -n 1").read()
-                if chk:
-                    break
+        chk = _check_ld_config("librocm-core.so.")
         if not chk:
             return
 
@@ -852,8 +881,7 @@ def _cuda_check(self) -> None:
                                 stdout.decode(locale.getpreferredencoding(), errors="ignore"))
             if version is not None:
                 self.cuda_version = version.groupdict().get("cuda", None)
-            locate = "where" if self._os == "windows" else "which"
-            path = os.popen(f"{locate} nvcc").read()
+            path = which("nvcc")
             if path:
                 path = path.split("\n")[0]  # Split multiple entries and take first found
                 while True:  # Get Cuda root folder
@@ -870,22 +898,15 @@ def _cuda_check(self) -> None:
     def _cuda_check_linux(self) -> None:
         """ For Linux check the dynamic link loader for libcudart. If not found with ldconfig then
         attempt to find it in LD_LIBRARY_PATH. """
-        ldconfig = os.popen("which ldconfig").read()
-        if not ldconfig:
-            return
-        chk = os.popen(f"{ldconfig} -p | grep -P \"libcudart.so.\\d+.\\d+\" | head -n 1").read()
-        if not chk and os.environ.get("LD_LIBRARY_PATH"):
-            for path in os.environ["LD_LIBRARY_PATH"].split(":"):
-                chk = os.popen(f"ls {path} | grep -P -o \"libcudart.so.\\d+.\\d+\" | "
-                               "head -n 1").read()
-                if chk:
-                    break
+        chk = _check_ld_config("libcudart.so.")
         if not chk:  # Cuda not found
             return
 
         cudavers = chk.strip().replace("libcudart.so.", "")
-        self.cuda_version = cudavers[:cudavers.find(" ")]
-        self.cuda_path = chk[chk.find("=>") + 3:chk.find("targets") - 1]
+        self.cuda_version = cudavers[:cudavers.find(" ")] if " " in cudavers else cudavers
+        cuda_path = chk[chk.find("=>") + 3:chk.find("targets") - 1]
+        if os.path.exists(cuda_path):
+            self.cuda_path = cuda_path
 
     def _cuda_check_windows(self) -> None:
         """ Check Windows CUDA Version and path from Environment Variables"""
@@ -930,10 +951,7 @@ def _cudnn_check(self) -> None:
         if self._os == "windows":
             return
 
-        ldconfig = os.popen("which ldconfig").read()
-        if not ldconfig:
-            return
-        chk = os.popen(f"{ldconfig} -p | grep -P \"libcudnn.so.\" | head -n 1").read()
+        chk = _check_ld_config("libcudnn.so.")
         if not chk:
             return
         cudnnvers = chk.strip().replace("libcudnn.so.", "").split()[0]
@@ -952,10 +970,7 @@ def _get_checkfiles_linux(self) -> list[str]:
         list
             List of header file locations to scan for cuDNN versions
         """
-        ldconfig = os.popen("which ldconfig").read()
-        if not ldconfig:
-            return []
-        chk = os.popen(f"{ldconfig} -p | grep -P \"libcudnn.so.\\d+\" | head -n 1").read()
+        chk = _check_ld_config("libcudnn.so.")
         chk = chk.strip().replace("libcudnn.so.", "")
         if not chk:
             return []
@@ -978,7 +993,7 @@ def _get_checkfiles_windows(self) -> list[str]:
             List of header file locations to scan for cuDNN versions
         """
         # TODO A more reliable way of getting the windows location
-        if not self.cuda_path:
+        if not self.cuda_path or not os.path.exists(self.cuda_path):
             return []
         scandir = os.path.join(self.cuda_path, "include")
         cudnn_checkfiles = [os.path.join(scandir, header) for header in self._cudnn_header_files]