diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 4534cf829f..9331b5dec5 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -97,10 +97,18 @@ ifeq ($(USE_RUST_LIBM),)
 else
 	$(AR) -rcs "$(DESTDIR)/lib/libm.a"
 endif
-	# Empty libraries for dl, pthread, and rt
+	# Empty compatibility archives. relibc implements these APIs inside libc
+	# itself, but build systems still pass -ldl/-lpthread/-lrt/-lcrypt/-lutil
+	# because that is where glibc puts them. Shipping empty archives lets the
+	# link resolve and the symbols come from libc -- the same approach musl
+	# takes. Without libcrypt.a, KDE's kcm_users fails with
+	#   ld: cannot find -lcrypt: No such file or directory
+	# even though libc.a exports both crypt and crypt_r.
 	$(AR) -rcs "$(DESTDIR)/lib/libdl.a"
 	$(AR) -rcs "$(DESTDIR)/lib/libpthread.a"
 	$(AR) -rcs "$(DESTDIR)/lib/librt.a"
+	$(AR) -rcs "$(DESTDIR)/lib/libcrypt.a"
+	$(AR) -rcs "$(DESTDIR)/lib/libutil.a"
 
 install-tests: tests
 	$(MAKE) -C tests