diff --git a/package/systemd/systemd.mk b/package/systemd/systemd.mk
index 17bb922f51..b3b5ed600d 100644
--- a/package/systemd/systemd.mk
+++ b/package/systemd/systemd.mk
@@ -563,9 +563,17 @@ define SYSTEMD_INSTALL_MACHINEID_HOOK
 	touch $(TARGET_DIR)/etc/machine-id
 endef
 
+# systemd doesn't install legacy.conf without sysv-compat
+# This config ensures /var/lock is created
+define SYSTEMD_INSTALL_LEGACY_CONF_HOOK
+	$(INSTALL) -D -m 0644 $(@D)/tmpfiles.d/legacy.conf \
+		$(TARGET_DIR)/usr/lib/tmpfiles.d
+endef
+
 SYSTEMD_POST_INSTALL_TARGET_HOOKS += \
 	SYSTEMD_INSTALL_INIT_HOOK \
-	SYSTEMD_INSTALL_MACHINEID_HOOK
+	SYSTEMD_INSTALL_MACHINEID_HOOK \
+	SYSTEMD_INSTALL_LEGACY_CONF_HOOK
 
 define SYSTEMD_INSTALL_IMAGES_CMDS
 	$(SYSTEMD_INSTALL_BOOT_FILES)