diff --git a/SConstruct b/SConstruct
index 5ace5f677..f5c1b9028 100644
--- a/SConstruct
+++ b/SConstruct
@@ -142,6 +142,8 @@ PLUGINS = { # plugins with external dependencies
 def init_environment(env):
     env.Decider('MD5-timestamp')
     env.SourceCode(".", None)
+    env['ORIGIN'] = Literal('$ORIGIN')
+    env['ENV']['ORIGIN'] = '$ORIGIN'
     if os.environ.get('RANLIB'):
         env['RANLIB'] = os.environ['RANLIB']
     if os.environ.get('AR'):