diff --git a/scripts/makepkg.sh.in b/scripts/makepkg.sh.in
index 75df3650..22eb3206 100644
--- a/scripts/makepkg.sh.in
+++ b/scripts/makepkg.sh.in
@@ -369,6 +369,10 @@ error_function() {
 		error "$(gettext "A failure occurred in %s().")" "$1"
 		plainerr "$(gettext "Aborting...")"
 	fi
+	# in case /pkg directory doesn't have rw permissions
+	if [[ -d "$pkgdirbase" ]]; then
+		chmod 755 "$pkgdirbase"
+	fi
 	exit $E_USER_FUNCTION_FAILED
 }