diff --git a/tools/build/Makefile b/tools/build/Makefile
--- a/tools/build/Makefile
+++ b/tools/build/Makefile
@@ -323,7 +323,7 @@
 host-symlinks:
 	@echo "Linking host tools into ${DESTDIR}/bin"
 .for _tool in ${_host_tools_to_symlink}
-	@export PATH=$${PATH}:/usr/local/bin; \
+	@export PATH=$${PATH}:/usr/local/bin:${SYMLINK_BINDIR}; \
 	source_path=`which ${_tool} || echo /dev/null/no/such`; \
 	if [ ! -e "$${source_path}" ] ; then \
 		echo "Cannot find host tool '${_tool}' in PATH ($$PATH)." >&2; false; \
diff --git a/tools/build/make.py b/tools/build/make.py
--- a/tools/build/make.py
+++ b/tools/build/make.py
@@ -155,6 +155,10 @@
                         help="Directory to look for cc/c++/cpp/ld to build "
                              "target binaries (only needed if XCC/XCPP/XLD "
                              "are not set)")
+    parser.add_argument("--symlink-bindir",
+                        help="Directory to look for host binaries when "
+                             "symlinking into MAKEOBJDIRPREFIX during "
+                             "host-symlinks")
     parser.add_argument("--cross-compiler-type", choices=("clang", "gcc"),
                         default="clang",
                         help="Compiler type to find in --cross-bindir (only "
@@ -261,6 +265,9 @@
         if not want_clean.lower().startswith("y"):
             bmake_args.append("-DWITHOUT_CLEAN")
 
+    if parsed_args.symlink_bindir:
+        bmake_args.append("SYMLINK_BINDIR=" + parsed_args.symlink_bindir)
+
     env_cmd_str = " ".join(
         shlex.quote(k + "=" + v) for k, v in new_env_vars.items())
     make_cmd_str = " ".join(