diff --git a/standalone/linux/runshell b/standalone/linux/runshell
index 40440a1bd3..4481b0d7f0 100755
--- a/standalone/linux/runshell
+++ b/standalone/linux/runshell
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ for lib in $(cat $base/libdirs); do
 	GIT_ANNEX_LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$base/$lib:$GIT_ANNEX_LD_LIBRARY_PATH"
 done
 export GIT_ANNEX_LD_LIBRARY_PATH
-GIT_ANNEX_LINKER=$(cat $base/linker)
+GIT_ANNEX_LINKER="$base/$(cat $base/linker)"
 export GIT_ANNEX_LINKER
 GIT_ANNEX_SHIMMED="$base/shimmed"
 export GIT_ANNEX_SHIMMED