diff --git a/gnu/packages/audio.scm b/gnu/packages/audio.scm
index b0058180e4..b740f0ffed 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/audio.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/audio.scm
@@ -3360,8 +3360,10 @@ (define-public libsbsms
             ;; Originally a symlink to '/usr/local/share/automake-1.12/ar-lib'.
             (delete-file "ar-lib")
             (symlink
-             (string-append (assoc-ref inputs "automake") "/share/automake-"
-                            ,(package-version automake) "/ar-lib")
+             (search-input-file inputs
+                                (string-append "/share/automake-"
+                                               ,(package-version automake)
+                                               "/ar-lib"))
              "ar-lib")
             #t)))))
     (home-page "http://sbsms.sourceforge.net/")
diff --git a/gnu/packages/maths.scm b/gnu/packages/maths.scm
index 1726adedb8..0bfc6ef8c2 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/maths.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/maths.scm
@@ -1353,10 +1353,12 @@ (define-public hdf-java
              (with-directory-excursion "config"
                (for-each (lambda (file)
                            (install-file
-                            (string-append (assoc-ref inputs "automake")
-                                           "/share/automake-"
-                                           ,(version-major+minor (package-version automake))
-                                           "/" file) "."))
+                            (search-input-file inputs
+                                               (string-append
+                                                "/share/automake-"
+                                                ,(version-major+minor (package-version automake))
+                                                "/" file))
+                            "."))
                          '("config.sub" "config.guess")))
 
              ;; Fix embedded version number