diff --git a/Lib/distutils/command/build_ext.py b/Lib/distutils/command/build_ext.py
index cc0d414cf94..fb316489519 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/command/build_ext.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/command/build_ext.py
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ class build_ext(Command):
 
             elif MSVC_VERSION == 8:
                 self.library_dirs.append(os.path.join(sys.exec_prefix,
-                                         'PC', 'VS8.0', 'win32release'))
+                                         'PC', 'VS8.0'))
             elif MSVC_VERSION == 7:
                 self.library_dirs.append(os.path.join(sys.exec_prefix,
                                          'PC', 'VS7.1'))
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 6ba1652ddfb..817c2def550 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ Core and Builtins
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #9558: Fix distutils.command.build_ext with VS 8.0.
+
 - Issue #10667: Fast path for collections.Counter().
 
 - Issue #10695: passing the port as a string value to telnetlib no longer