diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index dd8959f..eba6ff4 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -449,20 +449,10 @@ world: target-post-image
 $(BUILD_DIR) $(TARGET_DIR) $(HOST_DIR) $(BINARIES_DIR) $(LEGAL_INFO_DIR) $(REDIST_SOURCES_DIR_TARGET) $(REDIST_SOURCES_DIR_HOST):
 	@mkdir -p $@
 
-# We make a symlink lib32->lib or lib64->lib as appropriate
-# MIPS64/n32 requires lib32 even though it's a 64-bit arch.
-ifeq ($(BR2_ARCH_IS_64)$(BR2_MIPS_NABI32),y)
-LIB_SYMLINK = lib64
-else
-LIB_SYMLINK = lib32
-endif
-
 $(STAGING_DIR):
 	@mkdir -p $(STAGING_DIR)/bin
 	@mkdir -p $(STAGING_DIR)/lib
-	@ln -snf lib $(STAGING_DIR)/$(LIB_SYMLINK)
 	@mkdir -p $(STAGING_DIR)/usr/lib
-	@ln -snf lib $(STAGING_DIR)/usr/$(LIB_SYMLINK)
 	@mkdir -p $(STAGING_DIR)/usr/include
 	@mkdir -p $(STAGING_DIR)/usr/bin
 	@ln -snf $(STAGING_DIR) $(BASE_DIR)/staging
diff --git a/package/gcc/gcc-initial/gcc-initial.mk b/package/gcc/gcc-initial/gcc-initial.mk
index c0b5eaf..bd40c7f 100644
--- a/package/gcc/gcc-initial/gcc-initial.mk
+++ b/package/gcc/gcc-initial/gcc-initial.mk
@@ -63,4 +63,21 @@ HOST_GCC_INITIAL_TOOLCHAIN_WRAPPER_ARGS += $(HOST_GCC_COMMON_TOOLCHAIN_WRAPPER_A
 HOST_GCC_INITIAL_POST_BUILD_HOOKS += TOOLCHAIN_BUILD_WRAPPER
 HOST_GCC_INITIAL_POST_INSTALL_HOOKS += HOST_GCC_INSTALL_WRAPPER_AND_SIMPLE_SYMLINKS
 
+# The creation of lib32/lib64 symlinks into target and staging directories
+# needs to be done before the C library is installed. Hooking into the libc
+# hooks directly is tricky because there are multiple C libraries supported.
+# Instead, hook into the install step of host-gcc-initial.
+#
+# MIPS64/n32 requires lib32 even though it's a 64-bit arch.
+ifeq ($(BR2_ARCH_IS_64)$(BR2_MIPS_NABI32),y)
+HOST_GCC_INITIAL_LIB_SYMLINK = lib64
+else
+HOST_GCC_INITIAL_LIB_SYMLINK = lib32
+endif
+define HOST_GCC_INITIAL_CREATE_STAGING_TARGET_SYMLINK
+	$(Q)$(call create_lib_symlinks,$(HOST_GCC_INITIAL_LIB_SYMLINK),$(STAGING_DIR))
+	$(Q)$(call create_lib_symlinks,$(HOST_GCC_INITIAL_LIB_SYMLINK),$(TARGET_DIR))
+endef
+HOST_GCC_INITIAL_POST_INSTALL_HOOKS += HOST_GCC_INITIAL_CREATE_STAGING_TARGET_SYMLINK
+
 $(eval $(host-autotools-package))
diff --git a/package/skeleton/skeleton.mk b/package/skeleton/skeleton.mk
index 920d3b4..a255c5c 100644
--- a/package/skeleton/skeleton.mk
+++ b/package/skeleton/skeleton.mk
@@ -38,8 +38,6 @@ define SKELETON_INSTALL_TARGET_CMDS
 		--chmod=u=rwX,go=rX --exclude .empty --exclude '*~' \
 		$(SKELETON_PATH)/ $(TARGET_DIR)/
 	$(SKELETON_USR_SYMLINKS_OR_DIRS)
-	ln -snf lib $(TARGET_DIR)/$(LIB_SYMLINK)
-	ln -snf lib $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/$(LIB_SYMLINK)
 	$(INSTALL) -m 0644 support/misc/target-dir-warning.txt \
 		$(TARGET_DIR_WARNING_FILE)
 endef
diff --git a/toolchain/helpers.mk b/toolchain/helpers.mk
index 1452ec6..ed89043 100644
--- a/toolchain/helpers.mk
+++ b/toolchain/helpers.mk
@@ -1,5 +1,18 @@
 # This Makefile fragment declares toolchain related helper functions.
 
+# Create the necessary symlink from (usr/)lib32|lib64|lib32-fp|... to lib
+# In general, for external toolchains, the correct link name is $ARCH_LIB_DIR.
+# $1: link name
+# $2: destination directory (TARGET_DIR / STAGING_DIR)
+create_lib_symlinks = \
+	LIB_SYMLINK="$(strip $1)" ; \
+	DESTDIR="$(strip $2)" ; \
+	if [ "$${LIB_SYMLINK}" != "lib" ]; then \
+		mkdir -p "$${DESTDIR}/usr" ; \
+		ln -snf lib "$${DESTDIR}/$${LIB_SYMLINK}" ; \
+		ln -snf lib "$${DESTDIR}/usr/$${LIB_SYMLINK}" ; \
+	fi
+
 # The copy_toolchain_lib_root function copies a toolchain library and
 # its symbolic links from the sysroot directory to the target
 # directory. Note that this function is used both by the external
diff --git a/toolchain/toolchain-external/toolchain-external.mk b/toolchain/toolchain-external/toolchain-external.mk
index 4e12a1c..2a224de 100644
--- a/toolchain/toolchain-external/toolchain-external.mk
+++ b/toolchain/toolchain-external/toolchain-external.mk
@@ -655,6 +655,16 @@ define TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_INSTALL_SYSROOT_LIBS
 	$(call copy_toolchain_sysroot,$${SYSROOT_DIR},$${ARCH_SYSROOT_DIR},$${ARCH_SUBDIR},$${ARCH_LIB_DIR},$${SUPPORT_LIB_DIR})
 endef
 
+define TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_CREATE_STAGING_LIB_SYMLINK
+	$(Q)ARCH_LIB_DIR="$(call toolchain_find_libdir,$(TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_CC) $(TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_CFLAGS))" ; \
+	$(call create_lib_symlinks,$${ARCH_LIB_DIR},$(STAGING_DIR))
+endef
+
+define TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_CREATE_TARGET_LIB_SYMLINK
+	$(Q)ARCH_LIB_DIR="$(call toolchain_find_libdir,$(TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_CC) $(TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_CFLAGS))" ; \
+	$(call create_lib_symlinks,$${ARCH_LIB_DIR},$(TARGET_DIR))
+endef
+
 # Special installation target used on the Blackfin architecture when
 # FDPIC is not the primary binary format being used, but the user has
 # nonetheless requested the installation of the FDPIC libraries to the
@@ -769,6 +779,7 @@ endef
 TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_BUILD_CMDS = $(TOOLCHAIN_BUILD_WRAPPER)
 
 define TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_INSTALL_STAGING_CMDS
+	$(TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_CREATE_STAGING_LIB_SYMLINK)
 	$(TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_INSTALL_SYSROOT_LIBS)
 	$(TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_INSTALL_WRAPPER)
 	$(TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_INSTALL_GDBINIT)
@@ -778,6 +789,7 @@ endef
 # and the target directory, we do everything within the
 # install-staging step, arbitrarily.
 define TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_INSTALL_TARGET_CMDS
+	$(TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_CREATE_TARGET_LIB_SYMLINK)
 	$(TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_INSTALL_TARGET_LIBS)
 	$(TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_INSTALL_BFIN_FDPIC)
 	$(TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_INSTALL_BFIN_FLAT)
