diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/ae/aescrypt/package.nix b/pkgs/by-name/ae/aescrypt/package.nix
index eb62d9061d88..346518e34a1c 100644
--- a/pkgs/by-name/ae/aescrypt/package.nix
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/ae/aescrypt/package.nix
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
   };
 
   preBuild = ''
-    substituteInPlace src/Makefile --replace "CC=gcc" "CC?=gcc"
+    substituteInPlace src/Makefile --replace-fail "CC=gcc" "CC?=gcc"
     cd src
   '';