3 files changed, 19 insertions, 7 deletions
diff --git a/src/build-remote/build-remote.cc b/src/build-remote/build-remote.cc
index 419e7205372b..6e05e165545d 100644
--- a/src/build-remote/build-remote.cc
+++ b/src/build-remote/build-remote.cc
@@ -176,9 +176,13 @@ int main (int argc, char * * argv)
 
                     Activity act(*logger, lvlTalkative, actUnknown, fmt("connecting to '%s'", bestMachine->storeUri));
 
-                    Store::Params storeParams{{"max-connections", "1"}, {"log-fd", "4"}};
-                    if (bestMachine->sshKey != "")
-                        storeParams["ssh-key"] = bestMachine->sshKey;
+                    Store::Params storeParams;
+                    if (hasPrefix(storeUri, "ssh://")) {
+                        storeParams["max-connections"] ="1";
+                        storeParams["log-fd"] = "4";
+                        if (bestMachine->sshKey != "")
+                            storeParams["ssh-key"] = bestMachine->sshKey;
+                    }
 
                     sshStore = openStore(bestMachine->storeUri, storeParams);
                     sshStore->connect();
diff --git a/src/libstore/machines.cc b/src/libstore/machines.cc
index d2faf45357e3..edd03d147832 100644
--- a/src/libstore/machines.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/machines.cc
@@ -17,7 +17,11 @@ Machine::Machine(decltype(storeUri) storeUri,
     storeUri(
         // Backwards compatibility: if the URI is a hostname,
         // prepend ssh://.
-        storeUri.find("://") != std::string::npos || hasPrefix(storeUri, "local") || hasPrefix(storeUri, "remote") || hasPrefix(storeUri, "auto")
+        storeUri.find("://") != std::string::npos
+        || hasPrefix(storeUri, "local")
+        || hasPrefix(storeUri, "remote")
+        || hasPrefix(storeUri, "auto")
+        || hasPrefix(storeUri, "/")
         ? storeUri
         : "ssh://" + storeUri),
     systemTypes(systemTypes),
diff --git a/src/libstore/store-api.cc b/src/libstore/store-api.cc
index 17237a03541c..c57e42fec00d 100644
--- a/src/libstore/store-api.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/store-api.cc
@@ -843,7 +843,7 @@ StoreType getStoreType(const std::string & uri, const std::string & stateDir)
 {
     if (uri == "daemon") {
         return tDaemon;
-    } else if (uri == "local") {
+    } else if (uri == "local" || hasPrefix(uri, "/")) {
         return tLocal;
     } else if (uri == "" || uri == "auto") {
         if (access(stateDir.c_str(), R_OK | W_OK) == 0)
@@ -865,8 +865,12 @@ static RegisterStoreImplementation regStore([](
     switch (getStoreType(uri, get(params, "state", settings.nixStateDir))) {
         case tDaemon:
             return std::shared_ptr<Store>(std::make_shared<UDSRemoteStore>(params));
-        case tLocal:
-            return std::shared_ptr<Store>(std::make_shared<LocalStore>(params));
+        case tLocal: {
+            Store::Params params2 = params;
+            if (hasPrefix(uri, "/"))
+                params2["root"] = uri;
+            return std::shared_ptr<Store>(std::make_shared<LocalStore>(params2));
+        }
         default:
             return nullptr;
     }