diff --git a/src/libcharon/plugins/vici/ruby/Makefile.am b/src/libcharon/plugins/vici/ruby/Makefile.am
index ce38e1c3d..c10705dc6 100644
--- a/src/libcharon/plugins/vici/ruby/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/libcharon/plugins/vici/ruby/Makefile.am
@@ -6,7 +6,9 @@ vici.gemspec: $(srcdir)/vici.gemspec.in
 	$(srcdir)/vici.gemspec.in > $@
 
 vici-$(PACKAGE_VERSION).gem: vici.gemspec
-	$(GEM) build vici.gemspec
+	(cd $(srcdir); $(GEM) build $(abs_builddir)/vici.gemspec)
+	[ "$(srcdir)" = "$(builddir)" ] || \
+		mv $(srcdir)/vici-$(PACKAGE_VERSION).gem $(builddir)
 
 all-local: vici-$(PACKAGE_VERSION).gem