diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/yajl/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/yajl/default.nix
index 645329f83cdb..022284b0b130 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/yajl/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/yajl/default.nix
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   src = fetchFromGitHub {
     owner = "lloyd";
     repo = "yajl";
-    rev = version;
+    rev = "refs/tags/${version}";
     sha256 = "00yj06drb6izcxfxfqlhimlrb089kka0w0x8k27pyzyiq7qzcvml";
   };