diff --git a/pkgs/development/misc/avr/gcc/avrbinutils-path.patch b/pkgs/development/misc/avr/gcc/avrbinutils-path.patch
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f0ec21b7589
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/misc/avr/gcc/avrbinutils-path.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+diff --git a/gcc/gcc-ar.c b/gcc/gcc-ar.c
+index 838ebc2..3ac4ee7 100644
+--- a/gcc/gcc-ar.c
++++ b/gcc/gcc-ar.c
+@@ -118,8 +118,8 @@ setup_prefixes (const char *exec_path)
+ 				dir_separator, NULL);
+   prefix_from_string (self_libexec_prefix, &target_path);
+ 
+-  /* Add path as a last resort.  */
+-  prefix_from_env ("PATH", &path);
++  /* Add path to avrbinutils.  */
++  prefix_from_string ("@avrbinutils@/bin", &path);
+ }
+ 
+ int 
diff --git a/pkgs/development/misc/avr/gcc/default.nix b/pkgs/development/misc/avr/gcc/default.nix
index f456214f944..0bfa6d1f238 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/misc/avr/gcc/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/misc/avr/gcc/default.nix
@@ -11,6 +11,16 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
     sha256 = "0fihlcy5hnksdxk0sn6bvgnyq8gfrgs8m794b1jxwd1dxinzg3b0";
   };
 
+  patches = [
+    ./avrbinutils-path.patch
+  ];
+
+  # avrbinutils-path.patch introduces a reference to @avrbinutils@, substitute
+  # it now.
+  postPatch = ''
+    substituteInPlace gcc/gcc-ar.c --subst-var-by avrbinutils ${avrbinutils}
+  '';
+
   buildInputs = [ gmp mpfr libmpc zlib avrbinutils ];
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [ texinfo ];