diff --git a/pkgs/tools/networking/openssh/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/networking/openssh/default.nix
index 8d893c6a57fa..64b9fe98278b 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/networking/openssh/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/networking/openssh/default.nix
@@ -66,6 +66,11 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     ++ optional stdenv.isDarwin "--disable-libutil"
     ++ optional (!linkOpenssl) "--without-openssl";
 
+  preConfigure = ''
+    configureFlagsArray+=("--with-privsep-path=$out/empty")
+    mkdir -p $out/empty
+  '';
+
   enableParallelBuilding = true;
 
   postInstall = ''