diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index c16499808c..e2d016403b 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -604,8 +604,8 @@ sdk: prepare-sdk $(BR2_TAR_HOST_DEPENDENCY)
 	$(Q)mkdir -p $(BINARIES_DIR)
 	$(TAR) czf "$(BINARIES_DIR)/$(BR2_SDK_PREFIX).tar.gz" \
 		--owner=0 --group=0 --numeric-owner \
-		--transform='s#^\.#$(BR2_SDK_PREFIX)#' \
-		-C $(HOST_DIR) "."
+		--transform='s#^$(patsubst /%,%,$(HOST_DIR))#$(BR2_SDK_PREFIX)#' \
+		-C / $(patsubst /%,%,$(HOST_DIR))
 
 # Populating the staging with the base directories is handled by the skeleton package
 $(STAGING_DIR):