diff --git a/internal/builders/golang/build.go b/internal/builders/golang/build.go
index 604b6ebbd..49826fba7 100644
--- a/internal/builders/golang/build.go
+++ b/internal/builders/golang/build.go
@@ -59,7 +59,11 @@ func (*Builder) WithDefaults(build config.Build) (config.Build, error) {
 		if len(build.Gomips) == 0 {
 			build.Gomips = []string{"hardfloat"}
 		}
-		targets, err := matrix(build, goVersion(build))
+		version, err := goVersion(build)
+		if err != nil {
+			return build, err
+		}
+		targets, err := matrix(build, version)
 		build.Targets = targets
 		if err != nil {
 			return build, err
diff --git a/internal/builders/golang/build_test.go b/internal/builders/golang/build_test.go
index d394acd0d..0ece15a5f 100644
--- a/internal/builders/golang/build_test.go
+++ b/internal/builders/golang/build_test.go
@@ -90,6 +90,9 @@ func TestWithDefaults(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 	} {
 		t.Run(name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			if testcase.build.GoBinary != "" && testcase.build.GoBinary != "go" {
+				helperCreateGoVersionExe(t, testcase.build.GoBinary, "go1.17")
+			}
 			config := config.Project{
 				Builds: []config.Build{
 					testcase.build,
@@ -105,6 +108,29 @@ func TestWithDefaults(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// helperCreateGoVersionExe creates a temporary executable with the given 'name', which will output
+// a 'go version' string with the given 'version'. The temporary directory created by this function
+// will be placed in the PATH variable for the duration of (and cleaned up at the end of) the
+// current test run.
+func helperCreateGoVersionExe(t *testing.T, name, version string) {
+	t.Helper()
+	d := t.TempDir()
+	f, err := os.Create(filepath.Join(d, name))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unable to create temporary GoBinary file for testing: %v", err)
+	}
+	fmt.Fprintf(f, "#!/bin/sh\necho \"go version %s %s/%s\"\n", version, runtime.GOOS, runtime.GOARCH)
+	if err := f.Chmod(0o0755); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unable to create temporary GoBinary file for testing: %v", err)
+	}
+	if err := f.Close(); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unable to create temporary GoBinary file for testing: %v", err)
+	}
+	currentPath := os.Getenv("PATH")
+	t.Cleanup(func() { os.Setenv("PATH", currentPath) })
+	os.Setenv("PATH", fmt.Sprintf("%s%c%s", d, os.PathListSeparator, currentPath))
+}
+
 func TestInvalidTargets(t *testing.T) {
 	type testcase struct {
 		build       config.Build
diff --git a/internal/builders/golang/targets.go b/internal/builders/golang/targets.go
index dd6589840..2f93152ef 100644
--- a/internal/builders/golang/targets.go
+++ b/internal/builders/golang/targets.go
@@ -131,9 +131,14 @@ var (
 	go117re = regexp.MustCompile(`go version go1.1[7-9]`)
 )
 
-func goVersion(build config.Build) []byte {
-	bts, _ := exec.Command(build.GoBinary, "version").CombinedOutput()
-	return bts
+func goVersion(build config.Build) ([]byte, error) {
+	cmd := exec.Command(build.GoBinary, "version")
+	cmd.Dir = build.Dir // Set Dir to build directory in case of reletive path to GoBinary
+	bts, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to determine version of go binary (%s): %w", build.GoBinary, err)
+	}
+	return bts, nil
 }
 
 func valid(target target) bool {
diff --git a/internal/pipe/build/build_test.go b/internal/pipe/build/build_test.go
index 8514dc1b8..a0c3a0600 100644
--- a/internal/pipe/build/build_test.go
+++ b/internal/pipe/build/build_test.go
@@ -330,6 +330,15 @@ func TestDefaultPartialBuilds(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 		},
 	}
+	// Create any 'Dir' paths necessary for builds.
+	cwd, _ := os.Getwd()
+	t.Cleanup(func() { os.Chdir(cwd) })
+	os.Chdir(t.TempDir())
+	for _, b := range ctx.Config.Builds {
+		if b.Dir != "" {
+			os.Mkdir(b.Dir, 0o755)
+		}
+	}
 	require.NoError(t, Pipe{}.Default(ctx))
 	t.Run("build0", func(t *testing.T) {
 		build := ctx.Config.Builds[0]