diff --git a/src/nix-build/nix-build.cc b/src/nix-build/nix-build.cc
index 75ce12a8c3e..4120ca3cf82 100644
--- a/src/nix-build/nix-build.cc
+++ b/src/nix-build/nix-build.cc
@@ -298,7 +298,9 @@ static void main_nix_build(int argc, char * * argv)
     else
         for (auto i : left) {
             if (fromArgs)
-                exprs.push_back(state->parseExprFromString(std::move(i), state->rootPath(CanonPath::fromCwd())));
+                exprs.push_back(state->parseExprFromString(
+                    std::move(i),
+                    state->rootPath(CanonPath::fromCwd(inShebang ? dirOf(script) : "."))));
             else {
                 auto absolute = i;
                 try {
@@ -311,7 +313,7 @@ static void main_nix_build(int argc, char * * argv)
                     /* If we're in a #! script, interpret filenames
                        relative to the script. */
                     exprs.push_back(state->parseExprFromFile(resolveExprPath(state->checkSourcePath(lookupFileArg(*state,
-                                        inShebang && !packages ? absPath(i, absPath(dirOf(script))) : i)))));
+                                        inShebang ? absPath(i, absPath(dirOf(script))) : i)))));
             }
         }