diff --git a/lib/systems/default.nix b/lib/systems/default.nix
index 9eec21cbf21b..6137d47e91a2 100644
--- a/lib/systems/default.nix
+++ b/lib/systems/default.nix
@@ -89,6 +89,13 @@ rec {
         # is why we use the more obscure "bfd" and not "binutils" for this
         # choice.
         else                                     "bfd";
+      # The standard lib directory name that non-nixpkgs binaries distributed
+      # for this platform normally assume.
+      libDir = if final.isLinux then
+        if final.isx86_64 || final.isMips64 || final.isPower64
+        then "lib64"
+        else "lib"
+      else null;
       extensions = lib.optionalAttrs final.hasSharedLibraries {
         sharedLibrary =
           if      final.isDarwin  then ".dylib"
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/nix-ld/default.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/nix-ld/default.nix
index 5eebe6773147..bb6489ecdb17 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/nix-ld/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/nix-ld/default.nix
@@ -5,11 +5,7 @@
 , ninja
 , nixosTests
 }:
-let
-  libDir = if builtins.elem stdenv.system [ "x86_64-linux" "mips64-linux" "powerpc64le-linux" ]
-           then "/lib64"
-           else "/lib";
-in
+
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   pname = "nix-ld";
   version = "1.2.2";
@@ -36,7 +32,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   postInstall = ''
     mkdir -p $out/nix-support
 
-    ldpath=${libDir}/$(basename $(< ${stdenv.cc}/nix-support/dynamic-linker))
+    ldpath=/${stdenv.hostPlatform.libDir}/$(basename $(< ${stdenv.cc}/nix-support/dynamic-linker))
     echo "$ldpath" > $out/nix-support/ldpath
     mkdir -p $out/lib/tmpfiles.d/
     cat > $out/lib/tmpfiles.d/nix-ld.conf <<EOF