diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 77d2c9881..09c17fedb 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -71,7 +71,8 @@ systemduserunitdir = get_option('systemduserunitdir')
 
 udevrulesdir = get_option('udevrulesdir')
 if udevrulesdir == ''
-  udevrulesdir = join_paths('lib', 'udev', 'rules.d')
+  # absolute path, otherwise meson prepends the prefix
+  udevrulesdir = '/lib/udev/rules.d'
 endif
 
 vapidir = join_paths(datadir, 'vala', 'vapi')