diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/coreutils/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/coreutils/default.nix
index ec6be06ede3..8b39e3711e1 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/coreutils/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/coreutils/default.nix
@@ -54,13 +54,13 @@ let
         ++ optional (stdenv.ccCross.libc ? libiconv)
           stdenv.ccCross.libc.libiconv.crossDrv;
 
-      buildPhase = ''
-        make || (
-          pushd man
-          for a in *.x; do
-            touch `basename $a .x`.1
-          done
-          popd; make )
+      # Prevents attempts of running 'help2man' on cross-built binaries.
+      PERL = "missing";
+
+      # Works around a bug with 8.26:
+      # Makefile:3440: *** Recursive variable 'INSTALL' references itself (eventually).  Stop.
+      preInstall = ''
+        sed -i Makefile -e 's|^INSTALL =.*|INSTALL = ${self}/bin/install -c|'
       '';
 
       postInstall = ''