diff --git a/build_scripts/assets/rpm/before-install.sh b/build_scripts/assets/rpm/before-install.sh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..4588f7c5e044
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build_scripts/assets/rpm/before-install.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -e
+
+# handling multiple cases where empty directories are left behind resulting
+# in issues with the python identifying the blockchain version
+find /opt/chia -type d -empty -delete || true
diff --git a/build_scripts/build_linux_rpm-2-installer.sh b/build_scripts/build_linux_rpm-2-installer.sh
index 76b76d8bba6f..f25bacb6af46 100644
--- a/build_scripts/build_linux_rpm-2-installer.sh
+++ b/build_scripts/build_linux_rpm-2-installer.sh
@@ -74,6 +74,8 @@ fpm -s dir -t rpm \
   --rpm-tag 'Recommends: libxcrypt-compat' \
   --rpm-tag '%define _build_id_links none' \
   --rpm-tag '%undefine _missing_build_ids_terminate_build' \
+  --before-install=assets/rpm/before-install.sh \
+  --rpm-tag 'Requires(pre): findutils' \
   .
 # CLI only rpm done
 cp -r dist/daemon ../chia-blockchain-gui/packages/gui