diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/glibc/2.16/common.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/glibc/2.16/common.nix
index 84bbefee840e..ea54b45a50de 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/glibc/2.16/common.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/glibc/2.16/common.nix
@@ -170,8 +170,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation ({
 
     configureScript="`pwd`/../$sourceRoot/configure"
 
-    # Needed to build rpcgen.
-    export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${stdenv.gcc.libc}/lib
+    makeFlags="$makeFlags BUILD_LDFLAGS=-Wl,-rpath,${stdenv.gcc.libc}/lib"
 
     ${preConfigure}
   '';