diff --git a/build.pl b/build.pl
index 305e30ea2..ba3f9bf2d 100755
--- a/build.pl
+++ b/build.pl
@@ -2,11 +2,14 @@
 
 use strict;
 use Getopt::Long;
+use FindBin;
 
 my $opt_list;
 my $opt_eachclean;
 my $opt_verbose;
 
+chdir($FindBin::Bin) or die "Couldn't chdir to $FindBin::Bin: $!";
+
 GetOptions("list" => \$opt_list,
            "eachclean" => \$opt_eachclean,
            "verbose" => \$opt_verbose,