diff --git a/kinode/build.rs b/kinode/build.rs
index 41279366..b5d8b8be 100644
--- a/kinode/build.rs
+++ b/kinode/build.rs
@@ -30,7 +30,23 @@ fn compute_hash(file_path: &Path) -> anyhow::Result<String> {
 
 fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     let path_to_packages_zip = match std::env::var("PATH_TO_PACKAGES_ZIP") {
-        Ok(env_var) => env_var,
+        Ok(env_var) => {
+            let path = PathBuf::from(&env_var);
+            if !path.exists() {
+                let path = std::env::current_dir()?;
+                let Some(path) = path.parent() else {
+                    return Err(anyhow::anyhow!("Given path to packages {env_var} not found (cwd: {:?})", std::env::current_dir()));
+                };
+                let path = path.join(&env_var);
+                if path.exists() {
+                    path.display().to_string()
+                } else {
+                    return Err(anyhow::anyhow!("Given path to packages {env_var} not found in parent of cwd: {:?}", std::env::current_dir()));
+                }
+            } else {
+                env_var
+            }
+        }
         Err(_) => {
             let canonical_path = PathBuf::from(CANONICAL_PACKAGES_ZIP_PATH);
             if canonical_path.exists() {
@@ -49,6 +65,10 @@ fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     }
 
     let path_to_packages_zip_path = PathBuf::from(&path_to_packages_zip).canonicalize()?;
+    let canonical_packages_zip_path = PathBuf::from(CANONICAL_PACKAGES_ZIP_PATH);
+    if !canonical_packages_zip_path.exists() {
+        std::fs::File::create(&canonical_packages_zip_path)?;
+    }
     let canonical_packages_zip_path = PathBuf::from(CANONICAL_PACKAGES_ZIP_PATH).canonicalize()?;
     if path_to_packages_zip_path != canonical_packages_zip_path {
         std::fs::copy(&path_to_packages_zip_path, &canonical_packages_zip_path)?;