diff --git a/Config.in b/Config.in
index 010b0774e3..5a4239bc9a 100644
--- a/Config.in
+++ b/Config.in
@@ -690,6 +690,24 @@ config BR2_REPRODUCIBLE
 	  This is labeled as an experimental feature, as not all
 	  packages behave properly to ensure reproducibility.
 
+config BR2_PER_PACKAGE_DIRECTORIES
+	bool "Use per-package directories (experimental)"
+	help
+	  This option will change the build process of Buildroot
+	  package to use per-package target and host directories.
+
+	  This is useful for two related purposes:
+
+	    - Cleanly isolate the build of each package, so that a
+	      given package only "sees" the dependencies it has
+	      explicitly expressed, and not other packages that may
+	      have by chance been built before.
+
+	    - Enable top-level parallel build.
+
+	  This is labeled as an experimental feature, as not all
+	  packages behave properly with per-package directories.
+
 endmenu
 
 comment "Security Hardening Options"
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index c78c2cbcf6..3b583abb83 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -204,6 +204,7 @@ BR_GRAPH_OUT := $(or $(BR2_GRAPH_OUT),pdf)
 BUILD_DIR := $(BASE_DIR)/build
 BINARIES_DIR := $(BASE_DIR)/images
 BASE_TARGET_DIR := $(BASE_DIR)/target
+PER_PACKAGE_DIR := $(BASE_DIR)/per-package
 # initial definition so that 'make clean' works for most users, even without
 # .config. HOST_DIR will be overwritten later when .config is included.
 HOST_DIR := $(BASE_DIR)/host
@@ -452,12 +453,13 @@ XZCAT := $(call qstrip,$(BR2_XZCAT))
 LZCAT := $(call qstrip,$(BR2_LZCAT))
 TAR_OPTIONS = $(call qstrip,$(BR2_TAR_OPTIONS)) -xf
 
-# packages compiled for the host go here
+ifeq ($(BR2_PER_PACKAGE_DIRECTORIES),y)
+HOST_DIR = $(if $(PKG),$(PER_PACKAGE_DIR)/$($(PKG)_NAME)/host,$(call qstrip,$(BR2_HOST_DIR)))
+TARGET_DIR = $(if $(ROOTFS),$(ROOTFS_$(ROOTFS)_TARGET_DIR),$(if $(PKG),$(PER_PACKAGE_DIR)/$($(PKG)_NAME)/target,$(BASE_TARGET_DIR)))
+else
 HOST_DIR := $(call qstrip,$(BR2_HOST_DIR))
-
-# The target directory is common to all packages,
-# but there is one that is specific to each filesystem.
 TARGET_DIR = $(if $(ROOTFS),$(ROOTFS_$(ROOTFS)_TARGET_DIR),$(BASE_TARGET_DIR))
+endif
 
 ifneq ($(HOST_DIR),$(BASE_DIR)/host)
 HOST_DIR_SYMLINK = $(BASE_DIR)/host
@@ -593,8 +595,8 @@ world: target-post-image
 .PHONY: prepare-sdk
 prepare-sdk: world
 	@$(call MESSAGE,"Rendering the SDK relocatable")
-	$(TOPDIR)/support/scripts/fix-rpath host
-	$(TOPDIR)/support/scripts/fix-rpath staging
+	PER_PACKAGE_DIR=$(PER_PACKAGE_DIR) $(TOPDIR)/support/scripts/fix-rpath host
+	PER_PACKAGE_DIR=$(PER_PACKAGE_DIR) $(TOPDIR)/support/scripts/fix-rpath staging
 	$(INSTALL) -m 755 $(TOPDIR)/support/misc/relocate-sdk.sh $(HOST_DIR)/relocate-sdk.sh
 	mkdir -p $(HOST_DIR)/share/buildroot
 	echo $(HOST_DIR) > $(HOST_DIR)/share/buildroot/sdk-location
@@ -727,15 +729,19 @@ $(TARGETS_ROOTFS): target-finalize
 # Avoid the rootfs name leaking down the dependency chain
 target-finalize: ROOTFS=
 
-host-finalize: $(HOST_DIR_SYMLINK)
+.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))
 
 .PHONY: staging-finalize
 staging-finalize:
 	@ln -snf $(STAGING_DIR) $(BASE_DIR)/staging
 
 .PHONY: target-finalize
-target-finalize: $(PACKAGES) host-finalize
+target-finalize: $(PACKAGES) $(TARGET_DIR) host-finalize
 	@$(call MESSAGE,"Finalizing target directory")
+	$(call per-package-rsync,$(sort $(PACKAGES)),target,$(TARGET_DIR))
 	# Check files that are touched by more than one package
 	$(foreach hook,$(TARGET_FINALIZE_HOOKS),$($(hook))$(sep))
 	rm -rf $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/include $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/share/aclocal \
@@ -776,7 +782,7 @@ endif
 	ln -sf ../usr/lib/os-release $(TARGET_DIR)/etc
 
 	@$(call MESSAGE,"Sanitizing RPATH in target tree")
-	$(TOPDIR)/support/scripts/fix-rpath target
+	PER_PACKAGE_DIR=$(PER_PACKAGE_DIR) $(TOPDIR)/support/scripts/fix-rpath target
 
 # For a merged /usr, ensure that /lib, /bin and /sbin and their /usr
 # counterparts are appropriately setup as symlinks ones to the others.
@@ -1014,7 +1020,7 @@ savedefconfig: $(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config/conf outputmakefile
 
 # staging and target directories do NOT list these as
 # dependencies anywhere else
-$(BUILD_DIR) $(BASE_TARGET_DIR) $(HOST_DIR) $(BINARIES_DIR) $(LEGAL_INFO_DIR) $(REDIST_SOURCES_DIR_TARGET) $(REDIST_SOURCES_DIR_HOST):
+$(BUILD_DIR) $(BASE_TARGET_DIR) $(HOST_DIR) $(BINARIES_DIR) $(LEGAL_INFO_DIR) $(REDIST_SOURCES_DIR_TARGET) $(REDIST_SOURCES_DIR_HOST) $(PER_PACKAGE_DIR):
 	@mkdir -p $@
 
 # outputmakefile generates a Makefile in the output directory, if using a
@@ -1046,7 +1052,7 @@ printvars:
 clean:
 	rm -rf $(BASE_TARGET_DIR) $(BINARIES_DIR) $(HOST_DIR) $(HOST_DIR_SYMLINK) \
 		$(BUILD_DIR) $(BASE_DIR)/staging \
-		$(LEGAL_INFO_DIR) $(GRAPHS_DIR)
+		$(LEGAL_INFO_DIR) $(GRAPHS_DIR) $(PER_PACKAGE_DIR)
 
 .PHONY: distclean
 distclean: clean
diff --git a/package/pkg-generic.mk b/package/pkg-generic.mk
index 2b9440eb68..c357bbddec 100644
--- a/package/pkg-generic.mk
+++ b/package/pkg-generic.mk
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ GLOBAL_INSTRUMENTATION_HOOKS += check_bin_arch
 # have a proper DT_RPATH or DT_RUNPATH tag
 define check_host_rpath
 	$(if $(filter install-host,$(2)),\
-		$(if $(filter end,$(1)),support/scripts/check-host-rpath $(3) $(HOST_DIR)))
+		$(if $(filter end,$(1)),support/scripts/check-host-rpath $(3) $(HOST_DIR) $(PER_PACKAGE_DIR)))
 endef
 GLOBAL_INSTRUMENTATION_HOOKS += check_host_rpath
 
@@ -141,6 +141,7 @@ endif
 # Retrieve the archive
 $(BUILD_DIR)/%/.stamp_downloaded:
 	@$(call step_start,download)
+	$(call prepare-per-package-directory,$($(PKG)_FINAL_DOWNLOAD_DEPENDENCIES))
 	$(foreach hook,$($(PKG)_PRE_DOWNLOAD_HOOKS),$(call $(hook))$(sep))
 # Only show the download message if it isn't already downloaded
 	$(Q)for p in $($(PKG)_ALL_DOWNLOADS); do \
@@ -167,6 +168,7 @@ $(BUILD_DIR)/%/.stamp_actual_downloaded:
 $(BUILD_DIR)/%/.stamp_extracted:
 	@$(call step_start,extract)
 	@$(call MESSAGE,"Extracting")
+	$(call prepare-per-package-directory,$($(PKG)_FINAL_EXTRACT_DEPENDENCIES))
 	$(foreach hook,$($(PKG)_PRE_EXTRACT_HOOKS),$(call $(hook))$(sep))
 	$(Q)mkdir -p $(@D)
 	$($(PKG)_EXTRACT_CMDS)
@@ -227,6 +229,7 @@ $(foreach dir,$(call qstrip,$(BR2_GLOBAL_PATCH_DIR)),\
 $(BUILD_DIR)/%/.stamp_configured:
 	@$(call step_start,configure)
 	@$(call MESSAGE,"Configuring")
+	$(call prepare-per-package-directory,$($(PKG)_FINAL_DEPENDENCIES))
 	$(foreach hook,$($(PKG)_PRE_CONFIGURE_HOOKS),$(call $(hook))$(sep))
 	$($(PKG)_CONFIGURE_CMDS)
 	$(foreach hook,$($(PKG)_POST_CONFIGURE_HOOKS),$(call $(hook))$(sep))
@@ -349,6 +352,7 @@ $(BUILD_DIR)/%/.stamp_target_installed:
 
 # Remove package sources
 $(BUILD_DIR)/%/.stamp_dircleaned:
+	$(if $(BR2_PER_PACKAGE_DIRECTORIES),rm -Rf $(PER_PACKAGE_DIR)/$(NAME))
 	rm -Rf $(@D)
 
 ################################################################################
@@ -926,6 +930,7 @@ $$($(2)_TARGET_SOURCE):			PKGDIR=$(pkgdir)
 $$($(2)_TARGET_ACTUAL_SOURCE):		PKG=$(2)
 $$($(2)_TARGET_ACTUAL_SOURCE):		PKGDIR=$(pkgdir)
 $$($(2)_TARGET_DIRCLEAN):		PKG=$(2)
+$$($(2)_TARGET_DIRCLEAN):		NAME=$(1)
 
 # Compute the name of the Kconfig option that correspond to the
 # package being enabled. We handle three cases: the special Linux
diff --git a/package/pkg-utils.mk b/package/pkg-utils.mk
index 63b19e812b..d38971caf6 100644
--- a/package/pkg-utils.mk
+++ b/package/pkg-utils.mk
@@ -135,6 +135,32 @@ clean-json = $(strip \
 	)))) \
 )
 
+ifeq ($(BR2_PER_PACKAGE_DIRECTORIES),y)
+# rsync the contents of per-package directories
+# $1: space-separated list of packages to rsync from
+# $2: 'host' or 'target'
+# $3: destination directory
+define per-package-rsync
+	mkdir -p $(3)
+	$(foreach pkg,$(1),\
+		rsync -a --link-dest=$(PER_PACKAGE_DIR)/$(pkg)/$(2)/ \
+		$(PER_PACKAGE_DIR)/$(pkg)/$(2)/ \
+		$(3)$(sep))
+endef
+
+# prepares the per-package HOST_DIR and TARGET_DIR of the current
+# package, by rsync the host and target directories of the
+# dependencies of this package. The list of dependencies is passed as
+# argument, so that this function can be used to prepare with
+# different set of dependencies (download, extract, configure, etc.)
+#
+# $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,$(TARGET_DIR))
+endef
+endif
+
 #
 # legal-info helper functions
 #
diff --git a/support/scripts/check-host-rpath b/support/scripts/check-host-rpath
index c8939569e2..9a3866982b 100755
--- a/support/scripts/check-host-rpath
+++ b/support/scripts/check-host-rpath
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ export LC_ALL=C
 main() {
     local pkg="${1}"
     local hostdir="${2}"
+    local perpackagedir="${3}"
     local file ret
 
     # Remove duplicate and trailing '/' for proper match
@@ -20,7 +21,7 @@ main() {
     while read file; do
         is_elf "${file}" || continue
         elf_needs_rpath "${file}" "${hostdir}" || continue
-        check_elf_has_rpath "${file}" "${hostdir}" && continue
+        check_elf_has_rpath "${file}" "${hostdir}" "${perpackagedir}" && continue
         if [ ${ret} -eq 0 ]; then
             ret=1
             printf "***\n"
@@ -44,6 +45,15 @@ is_elf() {
 # needs such an RPATH if at least of the libraries used by the ELF
 # executable is available in the host library directory. This function
 # returns 0 when a RPATH is needed, 1 otherwise.
+#
+# With per-package directory support, ${hostdir} will point to the
+# current package per-package host directory, and this is where this
+# function will check if the libraries needed by the executable are
+# located (or not). In practice, the ELF executable RPATH may point to
+# another package per-package host directory, but that is fine because
+# if such an executable is within the current package per-package host
+# directory, its libraries will also have been copied into the current
+# package per-package host directory.
 elf_needs_rpath() {
     local file="${1}"
     local hostdir="${2}"
@@ -62,13 +72,19 @@ elf_needs_rpath() {
 # This function checks whether at least one of the RPATH of the given
 # ELF executable (first argument) properly points to the host library
 # directory (second argument), either through an absolute RPATH or a
-# relative RPATH. Having such a RPATH will make sure the ELF
-# executable will find at runtime the shared libraries it depends
-# on. This function returns 0 when a proper RPATH was found, or 1
-# otherwise.
+# relative RPATH. In the context of per-package directory support,
+# ${hostdir} (second argument) points to the current package host
+# directory. However, it is perfectly valid for an ELF binary to have
+# a RPATH pointing to another package per-package host directory,
+# which is why such RPATH is also accepted (the per-package directory
+# gets passed as third argument). Having a RPATH pointing to the host
+# directory will make sure the ELF executable will find at runtime the
+# shared libraries it depends on. This function returns 0 when a
+# proper RPATH was found, or 1 otherwise.
 check_elf_has_rpath() {
     local file="${1}"
     local hostdir="${2}"
+    local perpackagedir="${3}"
     local rpath dir
 
     while read rpath; do
@@ -77,6 +93,12 @@ check_elf_has_rpath() {
             dir="$( sed -r -e 's:/+:/:g; s:/$::;' <<<"${dir}" )"
             [ "${dir}" = "${hostdir}/lib" ] && return 0
             [ "${dir}" = "\$ORIGIN/../lib" ] && return 0
+	    # This check is done even for builds where
+	    # BR2_PER_PACKAGE_DIRECTORIES is disabled. In this case,
+	    # PER_PACKAGE_DIR and therefore ${perpackagedir} points to
+	    # a non-existent directory, and this check will always be
+	    # false.
+            [[ ${dir} =~ ${perpackagedir}/[^/]+/host/lib ]] && return 0
         done
     done < <( readelf -d "${file}"                                              \
               |sed -r -e '/.* \(R(UN)?PATH\) +Library r(un)?path: \[(.+)\]$/!d' \
diff --git a/support/scripts/fix-rpath b/support/scripts/fix-rpath
index fa138ca15a..9fc9ef8514 100755
--- a/support/scripts/fix-rpath
+++ b/support/scripts/fix-rpath
@@ -127,14 +127,29 @@ main() {
 
     while read file ; do
         # check if it's an ELF file
-        if ${PATCHELF} --print-rpath "${file}" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
-            # make files writable if necessary
-            changed=$(chmod -c u+w "${file}")
-            # call patchelf to sanitize the rpath
-            ${PATCHELF} --make-rpath-relative "${rootdir}" ${sanitize_extra_args[@]} "${file}"
-            # restore the original permission
-            test "${changed}" != "" && chmod u-w "${file}"
+        rpath=$(${PATCHELF} --print-rpath "${file}" 2>&1)
+        if test $? -ne 0 ; then
+            continue
         fi
+
+        # make files writable if necessary
+        changed=$(chmod -c u+w "${file}")
+
+        # With per-package directory support, most RPATH of host
+        # binaries will point to per-package directories. This won't
+        # work with the --make-rpath-relative ${rootdir} invocation as
+        # the per-package host directory is not within ${rootdir}. So,
+        # we rewrite all RPATHs pointing to per-package directories so
+        # that they point to the global host directry.
+        changed_rpath=$(echo ${rpath} | sed "s@${PER_PACKAGE_DIR}/[^/]+/host@${HOST_DIR}@")
+        if test "${rpath}" != "${changed_rpath}" ; then
+            ${PATCHELF} --set-rpath ${changed_rpath} "${file}"
+        fi
+
+        # call patchelf to sanitize the rpath
+        ${PATCHELF} --make-rpath-relative "${rootdir}" ${sanitize_extra_args[@]} "${file}"
+        # restore the original permission
+        test "${changed}" != "" && chmod u-w "${file}"
     done < <(find "${rootdir}" ${find_args[@]})
 
     # Restore patched patchelf utility