diff --git a/lix/libstore/build/local-derivation-goal.cc b/lix/libstore/build/local-derivation-goal.cc
index 625f33cba..1f8a87eff 100644
--- a/lix/libstore/build/local-derivation-goal.cc
+++ b/lix/libstore/build/local-derivation-goal.cc
@@ -482,7 +482,18 @@ kj::Promise<Outcome<void, Goal::WorkResult>> LocalDerivationGoal::startBuilder()
 
     /* Create a temporary directory where the build will take
        place. */
-    tmpDir = createTempDir(settings.buildDir.get().value_or(""), "nix-build-" + std::string(drvPath.name()), false, false, 0700);
+    tmpDir = createTempDir(
+        settings.buildDir.get().value_or(""),
+        "nix-build-" + std::string(drvPath.name()),
+        false,
+        false,
+        0700
+    );
+    /* The TOCTOU between the previous mkdir call and this open call is unavoidable due to
+     * POSIX semantics.*/
+    tmpDirFd = AutoCloseFD{open(tmpDir.c_str(), O_RDONLY | O_NOFOLLOW | O_DIRECTORY)};
+    if (!tmpDirFd)
+        throw SysError("failed to open the build temporary directory descriptor '%1%'", tmpDir);
 
     chownToBuilder(tmpDir);
 
diff --git a/lix/libstore/build/local-derivation-goal.hh b/lix/libstore/build/local-derivation-goal.hh
index 96f0c41a0..67677a111 100644
--- a/lix/libstore/build/local-derivation-goal.hh
+++ b/lix/libstore/build/local-derivation-goal.hh
@@ -31,6 +31,11 @@ struct LocalDerivationGoal : public DerivationGoal
      */
     Path tmpDir;
 
+    /**
+     * The temporary directory file descriptor
+     */
+    AutoCloseFD tmpDirFd;
+
     /**
      * The path of the temporary directory in the sandbox.
      */