diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/pypy/default.nix b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/pypy/default.nix
index 84af77bade9e7..b612b361bf290 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/pypy/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/pypy/default.nix
@@ -123,7 +123,8 @@ in with passthru; stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     ln -s $out/${executable}-c/lib-python/${if isPy3k then "3" else pythonVersion} $out/lib/${libPrefix}
 
     # Include a sitecustomize.py file
-    cp ${../sitecustomize.py} $out/${if isPy38OrNewer then sitePackages else "lib/${libPrefix}/${sitePackages}"}/sitecustomize.py
+    mkdir -p $out/${libPrefix}-c/${if isPy38OrNewer then sitePackages else "lib/${libPrefix}/${sitePackages}"}
+    cp ${../sitecustomize.py} $out/${libPrefix}-c/${if isPy38OrNewer then sitePackages else "lib/${libPrefix}/${sitePackages}"}/sitecustomize.py
 
     runHook postInstall
   '';