diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/nginx/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/nginx/package.py
index 4be107ca8144274481770590238b9a4416ff034b..1ab2f2769572f9b882c95e1db7250d0590530eb5 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/nginx/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/nginx/package.py
@@ -42,3 +42,7 @@ class Nginx(AutotoolsPackage):
     def configure_args(self):
         args = ['--with-http_ssl_module']
         return args
+
+    def setup_environment(self, spack_env, run_env):
+        """Prepend the sbin directory to PATH."""
+        run_env.prepend_path('PATH', join_path(self.prefix, 'sbin'))