diff --git a/package/skeleton-init-systemd/skeleton-init-systemd.mk b/package/skeleton-init-systemd/skeleton-init-systemd.mk
index 1e212cc2f7..795a171809 100644
--- a/package/skeleton-init-systemd/skeleton-init-systemd.mk
+++ b/package/skeleton-init-systemd/skeleton-init-systemd.mk
@@ -62,6 +62,8 @@ define SKELETON_INIT_SYSTEMD_INSTALL_TARGET_CMDS
 	mkdir -p $(TARGET_DIR)/srv
 	mkdir -p $(TARGET_DIR)/var
 	ln -s ../run $(TARGET_DIR)/var/run
+	# prevent install scripts to create var/lock as directory
+	ln -s ../run/lock $(TARGET_DIR)/var/lock
 	install -D -m644 $(SKELETON_INIT_SYSTEMD_PKGDIR)/legacy.conf $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/legacy.conf
 	$(SKELETON_INIT_SYSTEMD_ROOT_RO_OR_RW)
 endef
diff --git a/system/skeleton/run/.empty b/system/skeleton/run/lock/.empty
similarity index 100%
rename from system/skeleton/run/.empty
rename to system/skeleton/run/lock/.empty