diff --git a/pkgs/development/compilers/ocaml/Makefile.nixpkgs b/pkgs/development/compilers/ocaml/Makefile.nixpkgs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..2d6457852fc9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/compilers/ocaml/Makefile.nixpkgs
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# ocaml build system does not allow for parallel building of some
+# top-level targets like 'world', 'bootstrap', 'world.opt' as
+# then spawn '$(MAKE) all' subprocesses that conflict among each
+# other. But we would still like to run each target in parallel
+# individually. This file defines such entry points.
+
+# Re-export all existing phases to make 'make install' work as is.
+include Makefile
+
+nixpkgs_world:
+	$(MAKE) world
+
+nixpkgs_world_bootstrap_world_opt:
+	$(MAKE) world
+	$(MAKE) bootstrap
+	$(MAKE) world.opt
diff --git a/pkgs/development/compilers/ocaml/generic.nix b/pkgs/development/compilers/ocaml/generic.nix
index e4cec4cf52ed..c8198b5b3731 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/compilers/ocaml/generic.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/compilers/ocaml/generic.nix
@@ -68,7 +68,18 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (args // {
   # x86_64-unknown-linux-musl-ld: -r and -pie may not be used together
   hardeningDisable = lib.optional (lib.versionAtLeast version "4.09" && stdenv.hostPlatform.isMusl) "pie";
 
-  buildFlags = [ "world" ] ++ optionals useNativeCompilers [ "bootstrap" "world.opt" ];
+  # Older versions have some race:
+  #  cp: cannot stat 'boot/ocamlrun': No such file or directory
+  #  make[2]: *** [Makefile:199: backup] Error 1
+  enableParallelBuilding = lib.versionAtLeast version "4.08";
+
+  # Workaround lack of parallelism support among top-level targets:
+  # we place nixpkgs-specific targets to a separate file and set
+  # sequential order among them as a single rule.
+  makefile = ./Makefile.nixpkgs;
+  buildFlags = if useNativeCompilers
+    then ["nixpkgs_world_bootstrap_world_opt"]
+    else ["nixpkgs_world"];
   buildInputs = optional (!lib.versionAtLeast version "4.07") ncurses
     ++ optionals useX11 [ libX11 xorgproto ];
   propagatedBuildInputs = optional spaceTimeSupport libunwind;