diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/glibc/2.17/locales.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/glibc/2.17/locales.nix
index b7eae50ca38..a0d3d6dbee4 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/glibc/2.17/locales.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/glibc/2.17/locales.nix
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ in
     # $TMPDIR/nix/store/...-glibc-.../lib/locale/locale-archive.
     buildPhase =
       ''
-        mkdir -p $TMPDIR/"$(dirname $(readlink -f $(type -p localedef)))/../lib/locale"
+        mkdir -p $TMPDIR/"${stdenv.gcc.libc}/lib/locale"
 
         # Hack to allow building of the locales (needed since glibc-2.12)
         sed -i -e "s,^LOCALEDEF=.*,LOCALEDEF=localedef --prefix=$TMPDIR," -e \