diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/build-fhsenv-bubblewrap/buildFHSEnv.nix b/pkgs/build-support/build-fhsenv-bubblewrap/buildFHSEnv.nix
index 291af512a411..dc8ee68e8783 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/build-fhsenv-bubblewrap/buildFHSEnv.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/build-fhsenv-bubblewrap/buildFHSEnv.nix
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ let
     destination = "/etc/profile";
     text = ''
       export PS1='${name}-fhsenv:\u@\h:\w\$ '
-      export LOCALE_ARCHIVE='/usr/lib/locale/locale-archive'
+      export LOCALE_ARCHIVE="''${LOCALE_ARCHIVE:-/usr/lib/locale/locale-archive}"
       export PATH="/run/wrappers/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:$PATH"
       export TZDIR='/etc/zoneinfo'