diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/coreutils/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/coreutils/default.nix
index befe53b9d90..86a91a09c3e 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/coreutils/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/coreutils/default.nix
@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (rec {
   '');
 
   outputs = [ "out" "info" ];
+  separateDebugInfo = true;
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [ perl xz.bin autoreconfHook ] # autoreconfHook is due to patch, normally only needed for cygwin
     ++ optionals stdenv.hostPlatform.isCygwin [ texinfo ];  # due to patch