diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/nixpkgs-basic-release-checks.nix b/pkgs/top-level/nixpkgs-basic-release-checks.nix
index 777cce7e5e0c..350dd273fe2e 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/nixpkgs-basic-release-checks.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/nixpkgs-basic-release-checks.nix
@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@
 pkgs.runCommand "nixpkgs-release-checks" { src = nixpkgs; buildInputs = [nix]; } ''
     set -o pipefail
 
-    export NIX_STATE_DIR=$TMPDIR
+    export NIX_STORE_DIR=$TMPDIR/store
+    export NIX_STATE_DIR=$TMPDIR/state
     export NIX_PATH=nixpkgs=$TMPDIR/barf.nix
     opts=(--option build-users-group "")
     nix-store --init