diff --git a/linux/ibus-keyman/.gitignore b/linux/ibus-keyman/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..cb76b31565
--- /dev/null
+++ b/linux/ibus-keyman/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+resources/
diff --git a/linux/ibus-keyman/build.sh b/linux/ibus-keyman/build.sh
index 9667960471..231e9039ea 100755
--- a/linux/ibus-keyman/build.sh
+++ b/linux/ibus-keyman/build.sh
@@ -45,6 +45,15 @@ else
   MESON_COVERAGE=
 fi
 
+# Import our standard compiler defines; this is copied from
+# /resources/build/meson/standard.meson.build by build.sh, because meson doesn't
+# allow us to reference a file outside its root. ${THIS_SCRIPT_PATH}/meson.build
+# then includes `resources` as a subdir.
+if builder_has_action configure; then
+  mkdir -p "${THIS_SCRIPT_PATH}/resources"
+  cp "${KEYMAN_ROOT}/resources/build/meson/standard.meson.build" "${THIS_SCRIPT_PATH}/resources/meson.build"
+fi
+
 configure_action() {
   # shellcheck disable=SC2086,SC2154
   meson setup ${MESON_COVERAGE} --werror --buildtype $MESON_TARGET "${builder_extra_params[@]}" "$MESON_PATH"
diff --git a/linux/ibus-keyman/meson.build b/linux/ibus-keyman/meson.build
index 80318708ac..763a121245 100644
--- a/linux/ibus-keyman/meson.build
+++ b/linux/ibus-keyman/meson.build
@@ -2,7 +2,12 @@ project('ibus-keyman', 'c', 'cpp',
         version: run_command('cat', '../../VERSION.md', check: true).stdout().strip(),
         license: 'GPL-2+',
         meson_version: '>=1.0')
-cc = meson.get_compiler('c')
+
+# Import our standard compiler defines; this is copied from
+# /resources/build/standard.meson.build by build.sh, because
+# meson doesn't allow us to reference a file outside its root
+subdir('resources')
+
 conf = configuration_data()
 
 ibus =           dependency('ibus-1.0',             version: '>= 1.2.0')
@@ -14,7 +19,7 @@ icu =            dependency('icu-i18n')
 core_dir = meson.current_source_dir() / '../../core'
 common_dir = meson.current_source_dir() / '../../common'
 
-keymancore_lib = cc.find_library(
+keymancore_lib = c_compiler.find_library(
   'keymancore', # meson will prefix 'lib'
   dirs: [ core_dir / 'build/arch' / get_option('buildtype') / 'src' ]
 )
@@ -26,7 +31,7 @@ endif
 env = find_program('env')
 
 # Check if we have patched ibus (https://github.com/ibus/ibus/pull/2440)
-if cc.has_header_symbol('ibus.h', 'IBUS_CAP_PREFILTER', dependencies: [ibus], required: false)
+if c_compiler.has_header_symbol('ibus.h', 'IBUS_CAP_PREFILTER', dependencies: [ibus], required: false)
   conf.set('IBUS_HAS_PREFILTER', 1)
 endif
 
diff --git a/linux/ibus-keyman/tests/meson.build b/linux/ibus-keyman/tests/meson.build
index 73ce8d84d0..40d8b9713a 100644
--- a/linux/ibus-keyman/tests/meson.build
+++ b/linux/ibus-keyman/tests/meson.build
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ test_files = [
   '../src/KeymanSystemServiceClient.cpp',
 ]
 
-keymancore_tests_lib = cc.find_library(
+keymancore_tests_lib = c_compiler.find_library(
   'keymancore-tests', # meson will prefix 'lib'
   dirs: [ core_dir / 'build/arch' / get_option('buildtype') / 'tests/kmx_test_source' ]
 )
diff --git a/linux/keyman-system-service/.gitignore b/linux/keyman-system-service/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f4e74111e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/linux/keyman-system-service/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+resources/meson.build
diff --git a/linux/keyman-system-service/build.sh b/linux/keyman-system-service/build.sh
index bb3e1f9461..aa151830eb 100755
--- a/linux/keyman-system-service/build.sh
+++ b/linux/keyman-system-service/build.sh
@@ -23,6 +23,15 @@ builder_describe \
 
 builder_parse "$@"
 
+# Import our standard compiler defines; this is copied from
+# /resources/build/meson/standard.meson.build by build.sh, because meson doesn't
+# allow us to reference a file outside its root. ${THIS_SCRIPT_PATH}/meson.build
+# then includes `resources` as a subdir.
+if builder_has_action configure; then
+  cp "${KEYMAN_ROOT}/resources/build/meson/standard.meson.build" "${THIS_SCRIPT_PATH}/resources/meson.build"
+  cat "${THIS_SCRIPT_PATH}/resources/meson.build.in" >> "${THIS_SCRIPT_PATH}/resources/meson.build"
+fi
+
 if builder_is_debug_build; then
   MESON_TARGET=debug
   export CPPFLAGS=-DG_MESSAGES_DEBUG
diff --git a/linux/keyman-system-service/resources/meson.build b/linux/keyman-system-service/resources/meson.build.in
similarity index 84%
rename from linux/keyman-system-service/resources/meson.build
rename to linux/keyman-system-service/resources/meson.build.in
index c28cb81e58..2743889f30 100644
--- a/linux/keyman-system-service/resources/meson.build
+++ b/linux/keyman-system-service/resources/meson.build.in
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+# This file will be appended to meson.build by build.sh
 install_data('com.keyman.SystemService1.conf', install_dir: get_option('datadir') / 'dbus-1/system.d/')
 install_data('com.keyman.SystemService1.service', install_dir: get_option('datadir') / 'dbus-1/system-services/')
 install_data('systemd-keyman.service', install_dir: get_option('prefix') / 'lib/systemd/system/')