diff --git a/substrate/utils/wasm-builder/src/lib.rs b/substrate/utils/wasm-builder/src/lib.rs
index 899903d96d..f5e04dd7d7 100644
--- a/substrate/utils/wasm-builder/src/lib.rs
+++ b/substrate/utils/wasm-builder/src/lib.rs
@@ -83,6 +83,10 @@
 //!   needs to be absolute.
 //! - `WASM_BUILD_TOOLCHAIN` - The toolchain that should be used to build the Wasm binaries. The
 //!   format needs to be the same as used by cargo, e.g. `nightly-2020-02-20`.
+//! - `WASM_BUILD_WORKSPACE_HINT` - Hint the workspace that is being built. This is normally not
+//!   required as we walk up from the target directory until we find a `Cargo.toml`. If the target
+//!   directory is changed for the build, this environment variable can be used to point to the
+//!   actual workspace.
 //!
 //! Each project can be skipped individually by using the environment variable
 //! `SKIP_PROJECT_NAME_WASM_BUILD`. Where `PROJECT_NAME` needs to be replaced by the name of the
@@ -138,6 +142,9 @@ const WASM_BUILD_TOOLCHAIN: &str = "WASM_BUILD_TOOLCHAIN";
 /// Environment variable that makes sure the WASM build is triggered.
 const FORCE_WASM_BUILD_ENV: &str = "FORCE_WASM_BUILD";
 
+/// Environment variable that hints the workspace we are building.
+const WASM_BUILD_WORKSPACE_HINT: &str = "WASM_BUILD_WORKSPACE_HINT";
+
 /// Write to the given `file` if the `content` is different.
 fn write_file_if_changed(file: impl AsRef<Path>, content: impl AsRef<str>) {
 	if fs::read_to_string(file.as_ref()).ok().as_deref() != Some(content.as_ref()) {
diff --git a/substrate/utils/wasm-builder/src/wasm_project.rs b/substrate/utils/wasm-builder/src/wasm_project.rs
index cf437ee7f0..809a940c74 100644
--- a/substrate/utils/wasm-builder/src/wasm_project.rs
+++ b/substrate/utils/wasm-builder/src/wasm_project.rs
@@ -77,6 +77,15 @@ fn crate_metadata(cargo_manifest: &Path) -> Metadata {
 
 	let cargo_lock_existed = cargo_lock.exists();
 
+	// If we can find a `Cargo.lock`, we assume that this is the workspace root and there exists a
+	// `Cargo.toml` that we can use for getting the metadata.
+	let cargo_manifest = if let Some(mut cargo_lock) = find_cargo_lock(cargo_manifest) {
+		cargo_lock.set_file_name("Cargo.toml");
+		cargo_lock
+	} else {
+		cargo_manifest.to_path_buf()
+	};
+
 	let crate_metadata = MetadataCommand::new()
 		.manifest_path(cargo_manifest)
 		.exec()
@@ -151,18 +160,29 @@ fn find_cargo_lock(cargo_manifest: &Path) -> Option<PathBuf> {
 		}
 	}
 
+	if let Ok(workspace) = env::var(crate::WASM_BUILD_WORKSPACE_HINT) {
+		let path = PathBuf::from(workspace);
+
+		if path.join("Cargo.lock").exists() {
+			return Some(path.join("Cargo.lock"))
+		} else {
+			build_helper::warning!(
+				"`{}` env variable doesn't point to a directory that contains a `Cargo.lock`.",
+				crate::WASM_BUILD_WORKSPACE_HINT,
+			);
+		}
+	}
+
 	if let Some(path) = find_impl(build_helper::out_dir()) {
 		return Some(path)
 	}
 
-	if let Some(path) = find_impl(cargo_manifest.to_path_buf()) {
-		return Some(path)
-	}
-
 	build_helper::warning!(
-		"Could not find `Cargo.lock` for `{}`, while searching from `{}`.",
+		"Could not find `Cargo.lock` for `{}`, while searching from `{}`. \
+		 To fix this, point the `{}` env variable to the directory of the workspace being compiled.",
 		cargo_manifest.display(),
-		build_helper::out_dir().display()
+		build_helper::out_dir().display(),
+		crate::WASM_BUILD_WORKSPACE_HINT,
 	);
 
 	None