diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/xd/xdg-user-dirs/package.nix b/pkgs/by-name/xd/xdg-user-dirs/package.nix
index 17874aaa222f..e8797598ad88 100644
--- a/pkgs/by-name/xd/xdg-user-dirs/package.nix
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/xd/xdg-user-dirs/package.nix
@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
     docbook_xml_dtd_43
   ] ++ lib.optionals stdenv.hostPlatform.isDarwin [ gettext ];
 
+  NIX_LDFLAGS = if stdenv.isDarwin then "-liconv" else null;
+
   preFixup = ''
     # fallback values need to be last
     wrapProgram "$out/bin/xdg-user-dirs-update" \