diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/release/debian-build.nix b/pkgs/build-support/release/debian-build.nix
index fad216fb1c24..fad88a98f177 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/release/debian-build.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/release/debian-build.nix
@@ -34,13 +34,6 @@ vmTools.runInLinuxImage (stdenv.mkDerivation (
       fi
     ''; # */
 
-    extraDebs = [
-      (fetchurl {
-        url = http://checkinstall.izto.org/files/deb/checkinstall_1.6.1-1_i386.deb;
-        sha256 = "0c9wwk1m0w677gr37zd4lhvkskkcrwa0bk7csh7b3qy94pnab618";
-      })
-    ];
-
     installExtraDebsPhase = ''
       for i in $extraDebs; do
         dpkg --install $i    
@@ -56,7 +49,9 @@ vmTools.runInLinuxImage (stdenv.mkDerivation (
     '';
 
     installCommand = ''
-      /usr/local/sbin/checkinstall -y -D make install
+      export LOGNAME=root
+    
+      ${checkinstall}/sbin/checkinstall -y -D make install
 
       ensureDir $out/debs
       find . -name "*.deb" -exec cp {} $out/debs \;
diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/release/default.nix b/pkgs/build-support/release/default.nix
index e3ea97876f46..58368bddf6be 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/release/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/release/default.nix
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ rec {
   rpmBuild = args: import ./rpm-build.nix vmTools args;
 
   debBuild = args: import ./debian-build.nix {inherit vmTools fetchurl;} (
-    { inherit stdenv;
+    { inherit stdenv checkinstall;
     } // args);
 
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/package-management/checkinstall/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/package-management/checkinstall/default.nix
index 80f774e8e5d9..f7a8321fe317 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/package-management/checkinstall/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/package-management/checkinstall/default.nix
@@ -17,6 +17,22 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
     substituteInPlace checkinstallrc-dist --replace /usr/local $out
   '';
 
+  postInstall =
+    if stdenv.isLinux then
+      # Clear the RPATH, otherwise installwatch.so won't work properly
+      # as an LD_PRELOADed library on applications that load against a
+      # different Glibc.
+      ''
+         patchelf --set-rpath "" $out/lib/installwatch.so
+      ''
+    else "";
+
+  patches = [
+    # Necessary for building on x86_64, see
+    # http://checkinstall.izto.org/cklist/msg00256.html
+    ./readlink.patch
+  ];
+
   meta = {
     homepage = http://checkinstall.izto.org/;
     description = "A tool for automatically generating Slackware, RPM or Debian packages when doing `make install'";
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/package-management/checkinstall/readlink.patch b/pkgs/tools/package-management/checkinstall/readlink.patch
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..f276c057d8f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/tools/package-management/checkinstall/readlink.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+--- a/installwatch-0.7.0beta5/installwatch.c	2007-04-07 14:27:23.000000000 -0400
++++ b/installwatch-0.7.0beta5/installwatch.c	2007-04-07 14:25:06.000000000 -0400
+@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@
+ static int (*true_open)(const char *, int, ...);
+ static DIR *(*true_opendir)(const char *);
+ static struct dirent *(*true_readdir)(DIR *dir);
+-static int (*true_readlink)(const char*,char *,size_t);
++static ssize_t (*true_readlink)(const char*,char *,size_t);
+ static char *(*true_realpath)(const char *,char *);
+ static int (*true_rename)(const char *, const char *);
+ static int (*true_rmdir)(const char *);
+@@ -546,7 +546,7 @@
+ 	struct utimbuf timbuf;
+ 	size_t truesz;
+ 	char linkpath[PATH_MAX+1];
+-	size_t linksz;
++	ssize_t linksz;
+ 
+ #if DEBUG
+ 	debug(2,"copy_path(%s,%s)\n",truepath,translroot);
+@@ -1582,7 +1582,7 @@
+ 	struct stat reslvinfo;
+ 	instw_t iw;
+ 	char wpath[PATH_MAX+1];
+-	size_t wsz=0;
++	ssize_t wsz=0;
+ 	char linkpath[PATH_MAX+1];
+ 
+ 
+@@ -2698,8 +2698,8 @@
+ 	return result;
+ }
+ 
+-int readlink(const char *path,char *buf,size_t bufsiz) {
+-	int result;
++ssize_t readlink(const char *path,char *buf,size_t bufsiz) {
++	ssize_t result;
+ 	instw_t instw;
+ 	int status;
+