diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/setup-hooks/make-symlinks-relative.sh b/pkgs/build-support/setup-hooks/make-symlinks-relative.sh
index b07b0c5ae804c..478543afed115 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/setup-hooks/make-symlinks-relative.sh
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/setup-hooks/make-symlinks-relative.sh
@@ -1,37 +1,35 @@
 # symlinks are often created in postFixup
 # don't use fixupOutputHooks, it is before postFixup
-postFixupHooks+=(_makeSymlinksRelativeInAllOutputs)
+if [[ -z "${dontRewriteSymlinks-}" ]]; then
+  postFixupHooks+=(_makeSymlinksRelative)
+fi
+
 
 # For every symlink in $output that refers to another file in $output
-# ensure that the symlink is relative. This removes references to the output
-# has from the resulting store paths and thus the NAR files.
+# ensure that the symlink is relative.
+# This increases the chance that NAR files can be deduplicated.
 _makeSymlinksRelative() {
-    local symlinkTarget
-
-    if [ "${dontRewriteSymlinks-}" ] || [ ! -e "$prefix" ]; then
-       return
-    fi
-
-    while IFS= read -r -d $'\0' f; do
-        symlinkTarget=$(readlink "$f")
-        if [[ "$symlinkTarget"/ != "$prefix"/* ]]; then
-            # skip this symlink as it doesn't point to $prefix
-            continue
-        fi
+  local prefixes
+  prefixes=()
+  for output in $(getAllOutputNames); do
+    [ ! -e "${!output}" ] && continue
+    prefixes+=( "${!output}" )
+  done
+  find "${prefixes[@]}" -type l -printf '%H\0%p\0' \
+    | xargs -0 -n2 -r -P "$NIX_BUILD_CORES" sh -c '
+      output="$1"
+      link="$2"
 
-        if [ ! -e "$symlinkTarget" ]; then
-            echo "the symlink $f is broken, it points to $symlinkTarget (which is missing)"
-        fi
+      linkTarget=$(readlink "$link")
 
-        echo "rewriting symlink $f to be relative to $prefix"
-        ln -snrf "$symlinkTarget" "$f"
+      # only touch links that point inside the same output tree
+      [[ $linkTarget == "$output"/* ]] || exit 0
 
-    done < <(find $prefix -type l -print0)
-}
+      if [ ! -e "$linkTarget" ]; then
+        echo "the symlink $link is broken, it points to $linkTarget (which is missing)"
+      fi
 
-_makeSymlinksRelativeInAllOutputs() {
-  local output
-  for output in $(getAllOutputNames); do
-    prefix="${!output}" _makeSymlinksRelative
-  done
+      echo "making symlink relative: $link"
+      ln -snrf "$linkTarget" "$link"
+    ' _
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/test/stdenv/default.nix b/pkgs/test/stdenv/default.nix
index cf09258d6fbc0..ecc7bbaadac05 100644
--- a/pkgs/test/stdenv/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/test/stdenv/default.nix
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@
 }:
 
 let
+  # tests can be based on builtins.derivation and bootstrapTools directly to minimize rebuilds
+  # see test 'make-symlinks-relative' in ./hooks.nix as an example.
+  bootstrapTools = stdenv.bootstrapTools;
   # early enough not to rebuild gcc but late enough to have patchelf
   earlyPkgs = stdenv.__bootPackages.stdenv.__bootPackages;
   earlierPkgs =
@@ -223,7 +226,7 @@ in
     import ./hooks.nix {
       stdenv = bootStdenv;
       pkgs = earlyPkgs;
-      inherit lib;
+      inherit bootstrapTools lib;
     }
   );
 
@@ -433,7 +436,7 @@ in
       import ./hooks.nix {
         stdenv = bootStdenvStructuredAttrsByDefault;
         pkgs = earlyPkgs;
-        inherit lib;
+        inherit bootstrapTools lib;
       }
     );
 
diff --git a/pkgs/test/stdenv/hooks.nix b/pkgs/test/stdenv/hooks.nix
index aa138040d50fe..70daaf5d403e5 100644
--- a/pkgs/test/stdenv/hooks.nix
+++ b/pkgs/test/stdenv/hooks.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 {
+  bootstrapTools,
   stdenv,
   pkgs,
   lib,
@@ -28,36 +29,65 @@
         [[ -e $out/share/man/small-man.1.gz ]]
       '';
     };
-  make-symlinks-relative = stdenv.mkDerivation {
-    name = "test-make-symlinks-relative";
-    outputs = [
-      "out"
-      "man"
-    ];
-    buildCommand = ''
-      mkdir -p $out/{bar,baz}
-      mkdir -p $man/share/{x,y}
-      source1="$out/bar/foo"
-      destination1="$out/baz/foo"
-      source2="$man/share/x/file1"
-      destination2="$man/share/y/file2"
-      echo foo > $source1
-      echo foo > $source2
-      ln -s $source1 $destination1
-      ln -s $source2 $destination2
-      echo "symlink before patching: $(readlink $destination1)"
-      echo "symlink before patching: $(readlink $destination2)"
-
-      _makeSymlinksRelativeInAllOutputs
-
-      echo "symlink after patching: $(readlink $destination1)"
-      ([[ -e $destination1 ]] && echo "symlink isn't broken") || (echo "symlink is broken" && exit 1)
-      ([[ $(readlink $destination1) == "../bar/foo" ]] && echo "absolute symlink was made relative") || (echo "symlink was not made relative" && exit 1)
-      echo "symlink after patching: $(readlink $destination2)"
-      ([[ -e $destination2 ]] && echo "symlink isn't broken") || (echo "symlink is broken" && exit 1)
-      ([[ $(readlink $destination2) == "../x/file1" ]] && echo "absolute symlink was made relative") || (echo "symlink was not made relative" && exit 1)
-    '';
-  };
+  # test based on bootstrapTools to minimize rebuilds
+  make-symlinks-relative =
+    (derivation {
+      name = "test-make-symlinks-relative";
+      system = stdenv.system;
+      builder = "${bootstrapTools}/bin/bash";
+      initialPath = "${bootstrapTools}";
+      outputs = [
+        "out"
+        "out2"
+      ];
+      args = [
+        "-c"
+        ''
+          set -euo pipefail
+          . ${../../stdenv/generic/setup.sh}
+          . ${../../build-support/setup-hooks/make-symlinks-relative.sh}
+
+          mkdir -p $out $out2
+
+          # create symlink targets
+          touch $out/target $out2/target
+
+          # link within out
+          ln -s $out/target $out/linkToOut
+
+          # link across different outputs
+          ln -s $out2/target $out/linkToOut2
+
+          # broken link
+          ln -s $out/does-not-exist $out/brokenLink
+
+          # call hook
+          _makeSymlinksRelative
+
+          # verify link within out became relative
+          echo "readlink linkToOut: $(readlink $out/linkToOut)"
+          if test "$(readlink $out/linkToOut)" != 'target'; then
+            echo "Expected relative link, got: $(readlink $out/linkToOut)"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          # verify link across outputs is still absolute
+          if test "$(readlink $out/linkToOut2)" != "$out2/target"; then
+            echo "Expected absolute link, got: $(readlink $out/linkToOut2)"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          # verify broken link was made relative
+          if test "$(readlink $out/brokenLink)" != 'does-not-exist'; then
+            echo "Expected relative broken link, got: $(readlink $out/brokenLink)"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+        ''
+      ];
+    })
+    // {
+      meta = { };
+    };
   move-docs = stdenv.mkDerivation {
     name = "test-move-docs";
     buildCommand = ''