diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/do/dopewars/package.nix b/pkgs/by-name/do/dopewars/package.nix
index 7b9dea613aed..0722c693adf1 100644
--- a/pkgs/by-name/do/dopewars/package.nix
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/do/dopewars/package.nix
@@ -41,6 +41,11 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
     ./0002-fix_gcc15.patch
   ];
 
+  preConfigure = ''
+    substituteInPlace po/Makefile.in.in \
+      --replace-fail '$(GMSGFMT) -c --statistics --verbose' '$(GMSGFMT) --statistics --verbose'
+  '';
+
   # run dopewars with -f so that it finds its scoreboard file in ~/.local/share
   postInstall = ''
     wrapProgram $out/bin/dopewars \