diff --git a/tools/winebuild/build.h b/tools/winebuild/build.h
index bde322cef30..2b67d305e82 100644
--- a/tools/winebuild/build.h
+++ b/tools/winebuild/build.h
@@ -369,6 +369,7 @@ extern FILE *output_file;
 extern const char *output_file_name;
 
 extern struct strarray lib_path;
+extern struct strarray tools_path;
 extern struct strarray as_command;
 extern struct strarray cc_command;
 extern struct strarray ld_command;
diff --git a/tools/winebuild/main.c b/tools/winebuild/main.c
index 7d54395860f..f4abb550819 100644
--- a/tools/winebuild/main.c
+++ b/tools/winebuild/main.c
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ const char *output_file_name = NULL;
 static int fake_module;
 
 struct strarray lib_path = { 0 };
+struct strarray tools_path = { 0 };
 struct strarray as_command = { 0 };
 struct strarray cc_command = { 0 };
 struct strarray ld_command = { 0 };
@@ -257,6 +258,7 @@ static const char usage_str[] =
 "Options:\n"
 "       --as-cmd=AS           Command to use for assembling (default: as)\n"
 "   -b, --target=TARGET       Specify target CPU and platform for cross-compiling\n"
+"   -B PREFIX                 Look for build tools in the PREFIX directory\n"
 "       --cc-cmd=CC           C compiler to use for assembling (default: fall back to --as-cmd)\n"
 "   -d, --delay-lib=LIB       Import the specified library in delayed mode\n"
 "   -D SYM                    Ignored for C flags compatibility\n"
@@ -316,7 +318,7 @@ enum long_options_values
     LONG_OPT_VERSION
 };
 
-static const char short_options[] = "C:D:E:F:H:I:K:L:M:N:b:d:e:f:hkl:m:o:r:u:vw";
+static const char short_options[] = "B:C:D:E:F:H:I:K:L:M:N:b:d:e:f:hkl:m:o:r:u:vw";
 
 static const struct option long_options[] =
 {
@@ -389,6 +391,9 @@ static char **parse_options( int argc, char **argv, DLLSPEC *spec )
     {
         switch(optc)
         {
+        case 'B':
+            strarray_add( &tools_path, xstrdup( optarg ), NULL );
+            break;
         case 'D':
             /* ignored */
             break;
diff --git a/tools/winebuild/utils.c b/tools/winebuild/utils.c
index fe82ad75e94..a73f520cccd 100644
--- a/tools/winebuild/utils.c
+++ b/tools/winebuild/utils.c
@@ -281,11 +281,72 @@ int output( const char *format, ... )
     return ret;
 }
 
+static struct strarray get_tools_path(void)
+{
+    static int done;
+    static struct strarray dirs;
+
+    if (!done)
+    {
+        dirs = strarray_copy( tools_path );
+
+        /* then append the PATH directories */
+        if (getenv( "PATH" ))
+        {
+            char *p = xstrdup( getenv( "PATH" ));
+            while (*p)
+            {
+                strarray_add_one( &dirs, p );
+                while (*p && *p != PATH_SEPARATOR) p++;
+                if (!*p) break;
+                *p++ = 0;
+            }
+        }
+        done = 1;
+    }
+    return dirs;
+}
+
+/* find a binary in the path */
+static const char *find_binary( const char *prefix, const char *name )
+{
+    struct strarray dirs = get_tools_path();
+    unsigned int i, maxlen = 0;
+    struct stat st;
+    char *p, *file;
+
+    if (strchr( name, '/' )) return name;
+    if (!prefix) prefix = "";
+    for (i = 0; i < dirs.count; i++) maxlen = max( maxlen, strlen(dirs.str[i]) + 2 );
+    file = xmalloc( maxlen + strlen(prefix) + strlen(name) + sizeof(EXEEXT) + 1 );
+
+    for (i = 0; i < dirs.count; i++)
+    {
+        strcpy( file, dirs.str[i] );
+        p = file + strlen(file);
+        if (p == file) *p++ = '.';
+        if (p[-1] != '/') *p++ = '/';
+        if (*prefix)
+        {
+            strcpy( p, prefix );
+            p += strlen(p);
+            *p++ = '-';
+        }
+        strcpy( p, name );
+        strcat( p, EXEEXT );
+        if (!stat( file, &st ) && S_ISREG(st.st_mode) && (st.st_mode & 0111)) return file;
+    }
+    free( file );
+    return NULL;
+}
+
 void spawn( struct strarray args )
 {
     unsigned int i;
     int status;
+    const char *argv0 = find_binary( NULL, args.str[0] );
 
+    if (argv0) args.str[0] = argv0;
     strarray_add_one( &args, NULL );
     if (verbose)
         for (i = 0; args.str[i]; i++)
@@ -302,35 +363,8 @@ void spawn( struct strarray args )
 /* find a build tool in the path, trying the various names */
 struct strarray find_tool( const char *name, const char * const *names )
 {
-    static char **dirs;
-    static unsigned int count, maxlen;
-
-    char *p, *file;
+    const char *file;
     const char *alt_names[2];
-    unsigned int i, len;
-    struct stat st;
-
-    if (!dirs)
-    {
-        char *path;
-
-        /* split the path in directories */
-
-        if (!getenv( "PATH" )) fatal_error( "PATH not set, cannot find required tools\n" );
-        path = xstrdup( getenv( "PATH" ));
-        for (p = path, count = 2; *p; p++) if (*p == PATH_SEPARATOR) count++;
-        dirs = xmalloc( count * sizeof(*dirs) );
-        count = 0;
-        dirs[count++] = p = path;
-        while (*p)
-        {
-            while (*p && *p != PATH_SEPARATOR) p++;
-            if (!*p) break;
-            *p++ = 0;
-            dirs[count++] = p;
-        }
-        for (i = 0; i < count; i++) maxlen = max( maxlen, strlen(dirs[i])+2 );
-    }
 
     if (!names)
     {
@@ -341,34 +375,12 @@ struct strarray find_tool( const char *name, const char * const *names )
 
     while (*names)
     {
-        len = strlen(*names) + sizeof(EXEEXT) + 1;
-        if (target_alias)
-            len += strlen(target_alias) + 1;
-        file = xmalloc( maxlen + len );
-
-        for (i = 0; i < count; i++)
+        if ((file = find_binary( target_alias, *names )))
         {
-            strcpy( file, dirs[i] );
-            p = file + strlen(file);
-            if (p == file) *p++ = '.';
-            if (p[-1] != '/') *p++ = '/';
-            if (target_alias)
-            {
-                strcpy( p, target_alias );
-                p += strlen(p);
-                *p++ = '-';
-            }
-            strcpy( p, *names );
-            strcat( p, EXEEXT );
-
-            if (!stat( file, &st ) && S_ISREG(st.st_mode) && (st.st_mode & 0111))
-            {
-                struct strarray ret = empty_strarray;
-                strarray_add_one( &ret, file );
-                return ret;
-            }
+            struct strarray ret = empty_strarray;
+            strarray_add_one( &ret, file );
+            return ret;
         }
-        free( file );
         names++;
     }
     fatal_error( "cannot find the '%s' tool\n", name );
@@ -377,6 +389,7 @@ struct strarray find_tool( const char *name, const char * const *names )
 struct strarray get_as_command(void)
 {
     struct strarray args;
+    unsigned int i;
 
     if (cc_command.count)
     {
@@ -387,6 +400,8 @@ struct strarray get_as_command(void)
         if (cpu_option) strarray_add_one( &args, strmake("-mcpu=%s", cpu_option) );
         if (fpu_option) strarray_add_one( &args, strmake("-mfpu=%s", fpu_option) );
         if (arch_option) strarray_add_one( &args, strmake("-march=%s", arch_option) );
+        for (i = 0; i < tools_path.count; i++)
+            strarray_add_one( &args, strmake("-B%s", tools_path.str[i] ));
         return args;
     }
 
diff --git a/tools/winebuild/winebuild.man.in b/tools/winebuild/winebuild.man.in
index 1b9b1b088b5..12bafd72d30 100644
--- a/tools/winebuild/winebuild.man.in
+++ b/tools/winebuild/winebuild.man.in
@@ -68,6 +68,10 @@ Specify the target CPU and platform on which the generated code will
 be built. The target specification is in the standard autoconf format
 as returned by config.sub.
 .TP
+.BI \-B\  directory
+Add the directory to the search path for the various binutils tools
+like \fBas\fR, \fBnm\fR and \fBld\fR.
+.TP
 .BI \--cc-cmd= cc-command
 Specify the C compiler to use to compile assembly files; the default
 is to instead use the assembler specified with \fB--as-cmd\fR.