diff --git a/pkgs/stdenv/darwin/make-bootstrap-tools.nix b/pkgs/stdenv/darwin/make-bootstrap-tools.nix
index 40f26dc2450..43775d0350b 100644
--- a/pkgs/stdenv/darwin/make-bootstrap-tools.nix
+++ b/pkgs/stdenv/darwin/make-bootstrap-tools.nix
@@ -3,9 +3,11 @@
 with import ../../.. { inherit system; };
 
 rec {
-  # We want coreutils without ACL support.
-  coreutils_ = coreutils.override (orig: {
+  coreutils_ = coreutils.override (args: {
+    # We want coreutils without ACL support.
     aclSupport = false;
+    # Our tooling currently can't handle scripts in bin/, only ELFs and symlinks.
+    singleBinary = "symlinks";
   });
 
   build = stdenv.mkDerivation {
diff --git a/pkgs/stdenv/linux/make-bootstrap-tools-cross.nix b/pkgs/stdenv/linux/make-bootstrap-tools-cross.nix
index 16099dfb3d3..6dfe1bf41e4 100644
--- a/pkgs/stdenv/linux/make-bootstrap-tools-cross.nix
+++ b/pkgs/stdenv/linux/make-bootstrap-tools-cross.nix
@@ -87,9 +87,11 @@ in
 
 rec {
 
-  # We want coreutils without ACL support.
   coreutilsMinimal = (pkgs.coreutils.override (args: {
+    # We want coreutils without ACL support.
     aclSupport = false;
+    # Our tooling currently can't handle scripts in bin/, only ELFs and symlinks.
+    singleBinary = "symlinks";
   })).crossDrv;
 
   curlMinimal = (pkgs.curl.override {
diff --git a/pkgs/stdenv/linux/make-bootstrap-tools.nix b/pkgs/stdenv/linux/make-bootstrap-tools.nix
index 8ffeebaa962..866906662ae 100644
--- a/pkgs/stdenv/linux/make-bootstrap-tools.nix
+++ b/pkgs/stdenv/linux/make-bootstrap-tools.nix
@@ -5,9 +5,11 @@ with import ../../.. {inherit system;};
 rec {
 
 
-  # We want coreutils without ACL support.
   coreutilsMinimal = coreutils.override (args: {
+    # We want coreutils without ACL support.
     aclSupport = false;
+    # Our tooling currently can't handle scripts in bin/, only ELFs and symlinks.
+    singleBinary = "symlinks";
   });
 
   tarMinimal = gnutar.override { acl = null; };
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/coreutils/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/coreutils/default.nix
index d08dd303341..4ed43a18988 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/coreutils/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/coreutils/default.nix
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 , selinuxSupport? false, libselinux ? null, libsepol ? null
 , autoconf, automake114x, texinfo
 , withPrefix ? false
+, singleBinary ? true # you can also pass "symlinks", for example
 }:
 
 assert aclSupport -> acl != null;
@@ -30,7 +31,9 @@ let
     outputs = [ "out" "info" ];
 
     nativeBuildInputs = [ perl xz.bin ];
-    configureFlags = [ "--enable-single-binary" ]
+    configureFlags =
+      optional (singleBinary != false)
+        ("--enable-single-binary" + optionalString (isString singleBinary) "=${singleBinary}")
       ++ optional stdenv.isSunOS "ac_cv_func_inotify_init=no";
 
     buildInputs = [ gmp ]