diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index f87f4458ba..3e85d5ef09 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -717,7 +717,7 @@ STAGING_DIR_FILES_LISTS = $(sort $(wildcard $(BUILD_DIR)/*/.files-list-staging.t
 .PHONY: host-finalize
 host-finalize: $(PACKAGES) $(HOST_DIR) $(HOST_DIR_SYMLINK)
 	@$(call MESSAGE,"Finalizing host directory")
-	$(call per-package-rsync,$(sort $(PACKAGES)),host,$(HOST_DIR))
+	$(call per-package-rsync,$(sort $(PACKAGES)),host,$(HOST_DIR),copy)
 
 .PHONY: staging-finalize
 staging-finalize: $(STAGING_DIR_SYMLINK)
@@ -725,7 +725,7 @@ staging-finalize: $(STAGING_DIR_SYMLINK)
 .PHONY: target-finalize
 target-finalize: $(PACKAGES) $(TARGET_DIR) host-finalize
 	@$(call MESSAGE,"Finalizing target directory")
-	$(call per-package-rsync,$(sort $(PACKAGES)),target,$(TARGET_DIR))
+	$(call per-package-rsync,$(sort $(PACKAGES)),target,$(TARGET_DIR),copy)
 	$(foreach hook,$(TARGET_FINALIZE_HOOKS),$($(hook))$(sep))
 	rm -rf $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/include $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/share/aclocal \
 		$(TARGET_DIR)/usr/lib/pkgconfig $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/share/pkgconfig \
diff --git a/package/pkg-utils.mk b/package/pkg-utils.mk
index 5d5980b098..dcab7d9b2a 100644
--- a/package/pkg-utils.mk
+++ b/package/pkg-utils.mk
@@ -214,10 +214,19 @@ ifeq ($(BR2_PER_PACKAGE_DIRECTORIES),y)
 # $1: space-separated list of packages to rsync from
 # $2: 'host' or 'target'
 # $3: destination directory
+# $4: literal "copy" or "hardlink" to copy or hardlink files from src to dest
 define per-package-rsync
 	mkdir -p $(3)
 	$(foreach pkg,$(1),\
-		rsync -a --link-dest=$(PER_PACKAGE_DIR)/$(pkg)/$(2)/ \
+		rsync -a \
+			--hard-links \
+			$(if $(filter hardlink,$(4)), \
+				--link-dest=$(PER_PACKAGE_DIR)/$(pkg)/$(2)/, \
+				$(if $(filter copy,$(4)), \
+					$(empty), \
+					$(error per-package-rsync can only "copy" or "hardlink", not "$(4)") \
+				) \
+			) \
 			$(PER_PACKAGE_DIR)/$(pkg)/$(2)/ \
 			$(3)$(sep))
 endef
@@ -230,8 +239,8 @@ endef
 #
 # $1: space-separated list of packages to rsync from
 define prepare-per-package-directory
-	$(call per-package-rsync,$(1),host,$(HOST_DIR))
-	$(call per-package-rsync,$(1),target,$(TARGET_DIR))
+	$(call per-package-rsync,$(1),host,$(HOST_DIR),hardlink)
+	$(call per-package-rsync,$(1),target,$(TARGET_DIR),hardlink)
 endef
 
 # Ensure files like .la, .pc, .pri, .cmake, and so on, point to the