diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/buildenv/builder.pl b/pkgs/build-support/buildenv/builder.pl
index f6cfe52dc31..678f5a3fe9e 100755
--- a/pkgs/build-support/buildenv/builder.pl
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/buildenv/builder.pl
@@ -31,9 +31,23 @@ sub isInPathsToLink {
 
 my %symlinks;
 
+# Add all pathsToLink and all parent directories.
+#
+# For "/a/b/c" that will include
+# [ "", "/a", "/a/b", "/a/b/c" ]
+#
+# That ensures the whole directory tree needed by pathsToLink is
+# created as directories and not symlinks.
+$symlinks{""} = ["", 0];
 for my $p (@pathsToLink) {
-    $p = "" if $p eq "/";
-    $symlinks{$p} = ["", 0];
+    my @parts = split '/', $p;
+
+    my $cur = "";
+    for my $x (@parts) {
+        $cur = $cur . "/$x";
+        $cur = "" if $cur eq "/";
+        $symlinks{$cur} = ["", 0];
+    }
 }
 
 sub findFiles;