diff --git a/scripts/build-remote.pl.in b/scripts/build-remote.pl.in
index da26b8596..f9315975b 100755
--- a/scripts/build-remote.pl.in
+++ b/scripts/build-remote.pl.in
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ $outputs =~ s/\n/ /g;
 print "copying inputs...\n";
 
 my $maybeSign = "";
-$maybeSign = "--sign" if -e "/nix/etc/nix/signing-key.sec";
+$maybeSign = "--sign" if -e "@sysconfdir@/nix/signing-key.sec";
 
 system("NIX_SSHOPTS=\"@sshOpts\" @bindir@/nix-copy-closure $hostName $maybeSign $drvPath $inputs") == 0
     or die "cannot copy inputs to $hostName: $?";