diff --git a/recipes/.dir-locals.el b/recipes/.dir-locals.el
index 556b85eb..7a1eb685 100644
--- a/recipes/.dir-locals.el
+++ b/recipes/.dir-locals.el
@@ -8,4 +8,7 @@
                    (unless (featurep 'package-build)
                      (let ((load-path (cons ".." load-path)))
                        (require 'package-build)))
-                   (package-build-minor-mode))))))
+                   (package-build-minor-mode)
+                   (set (make-local-variable 'package-build-working-dir) (expand-file-name "../working/"))
+                   (set (make-local-variable 'package-build-archive-dir)) (expand-file-name "../packages/")
+                   (set (make-local-variable 'package-build-recipes-dir)) default-directory)))))