diff --git a/src/cmd/go/go_test.go b/src/cmd/go/go_test.go
index 6f5e0c86a9..7a15ce3256 100644
--- a/src/cmd/go/go_test.go
+++ b/src/cmd/go/go_test.go
@@ -6390,15 +6390,14 @@ func TestNoRelativeTmpdir(t *testing.T) {
 	tg.setenv("GOCACHE", "off")
 	tg.setenv("GOPATH", tg.path("."))
 	tg.setenv("GOTMPDIR", "tmp")
-	tg.runFail("build", "a")
-	tg.grepStderr("relative tmpdir", "wrong error")
+	tg.run("build", "-work", "a")
+	tg.grepStderr("WORK=[^t]", "work should be absolute path")
 
-	if runtime.GOOS != "windows" && runtime.GOOS != "plan9" {
-		tg.unsetenv("GOTMPDIR")
-		tg.setenv("TMPDIR", "tmp")
-		tg.runFail("build", "a")
-		tg.grepStderr("relative tmpdir", "wrong error")
-	}
+	tg.unsetenv("GOTMPDIR")
+	tg.setenv("TMP", "tmp")    // windows
+	tg.setenv("TMPDIR", "tmp") // unix
+	tg.run("build", "-work", "a")
+	tg.grepStderr("WORK=[^t]", "work should be absolute path")
 }
 
 // Issue 24704.
diff --git a/src/cmd/go/internal/work/action.go b/src/cmd/go/internal/work/action.go
index 8ce68be15d..9cbc89f32b 100644
--- a/src/cmd/go/internal/work/action.go
+++ b/src/cmd/go/internal/work/action.go
@@ -213,7 +213,6 @@ const (
 )
 
 func (b *Builder) Init() {
-	var err error
 	b.Print = func(a ...interface{}) (int, error) {
 		return fmt.Fprint(os.Stderr, a...)
 	}
@@ -225,14 +224,19 @@ func (b *Builder) Init() {
 	if cfg.BuildN {
 		b.WorkDir = "$WORK"
 	} else {
-		b.WorkDir, err = ioutil.TempDir(os.Getenv("GOTMPDIR"), "go-build")
+		tmp, err := ioutil.TempDir(os.Getenv("GOTMPDIR"), "go-build")
 		if err != nil {
 			base.Fatalf("%s", err)
 		}
-		if !filepath.IsAbs(b.WorkDir) {
-			os.RemoveAll(b.WorkDir)
-			base.Fatalf("cmd/go: relative tmpdir not supported")
+		if !filepath.IsAbs(tmp) {
+			abs, err := filepath.Abs(tmp)
+			if err != nil {
+				os.RemoveAll(tmp)
+				base.Fatalf("go: creating work dir: %v", err)
+			}
+			tmp = abs
 		}
+		b.WorkDir = tmp
 		if cfg.BuildX || cfg.BuildWork {
 			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "WORK=%s\n", b.WorkDir)
 		}