diff --git a/garlic/stages/control.nix b/garlic/stages/control.nix
index 347be0859..e6efb7ce3 100644
--- a/garlic/stages/control.nix
+++ b/garlic/stages/control.nix
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
     cat > $out <<EOF
     #!/bin/sh
     for n in \$(seq 1 ${toString loops}); do
+      export GARLIC_RUN="\$n"
       echo "running \$n of ${toString loops}" > status
       mkdir "\$n"
       cd "\$n"