diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/buildenv/builder.pl b/pkgs/build-support/buildenv/builder.pl
index f2fdf36f79e5..f66acf3d5e75 100755
--- a/pkgs/build-support/buildenv/builder.pl
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/buildenv/builder.pl
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ $SIG{__DIE__}  = sub { die "pkgs.buildEnv error: ", @_ };
 my $out = $ENV{"out"};
 my $extraPrefix = $ENV{"extraPrefix"};
 
-my @pathsToLink = split ' ', $ENV{"pathsToLink"};
+my @pathsToLink = @{decode_json $ENV{"pathsToLinkJSON"}};
 
 sub isInPathsToLink($path) {
     $path = "/" if $path eq "";
diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/buildenv/default.nix b/pkgs/build-support/buildenv/default.nix
index dbeb2a629f20..5996239a16b4 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/buildenv/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/buildenv/default.nix
@@ -105,6 +105,7 @@ lib.makeOverridable (
           nativeBuildInputs
           buildInputs
           ;
+        pathsToLinkJSON = builtins.toJSON pathsToLink;
         pkgs = builtins.toJSON chosenOutputs;
         extraPathsFrom = lib.optional includeClosures (writeClosure pathsForClosure);
         preferLocalBuild = true;