diff --git a/perl/lib/Nix/Config.pm.in b/perl/lib/Nix/Config.pm.in
index 658305fd97..b657683be3 100644
--- a/perl/lib/Nix/Config.pm.in
+++ b/perl/lib/Nix/Config.pm.in
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ $binDir = $ENV{"NIX_BIN_DIR"} || "@bindir@";
 $libexecDir = $ENV{"NIX_LIBEXEC_DIR"} || "@libexecdir@";
 $manifestDir = $ENV{"NIX_MANIFESTS_DIR"} || "@localstatedir@/nix/manifests";
 $logDir = $ENV{"NIX_LOG_DIR"} || "@localstatedir@/log/nix";
+$confDir = $ENV{"NIX_CONF_DIR"} || "@sysconfdir@/nix";
 
 $bzip2 = $ENV{"NIX_BZIP2"} || "@bzip2@";
 $curl = "@curl@";
diff --git a/scripts/build-remote.pl.in b/scripts/build-remote.pl.in
index e8c76086da..110c95f223 100755
--- a/scripts/build-remote.pl.in
+++ b/scripts/build-remote.pl.in
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 use Fcntl ':flock';
 use English '-no_match_vars';
 use IO::Handle;
+use Nix::Config;
 use Nix::SSH qw/sshOpts openSSHConnection/;
 no warnings('once');
 
@@ -208,7 +209,7 @@ print STDERR "@ build-remote $drvPath $hostName\n" if $printBuildTrace;
 
 
 my $maybeSign = "";
-$maybeSign = "--sign" if -e "/nix/etc/nix/signing-key.sec";
+$maybeSign = "--sign" if -e "$Nix::Config::confDir/signing-key.sec";
 
 
 # Register the derivation as a temporary GC root.  Note that $PPID is