diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pyatspi/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pyatspi/default.nix
index 539e16abe57d..0405b979c8f9 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pyatspi/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pyatspi/default.nix
@@ -10,9 +10,10 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
     sha256 = "11g7dx21brfmi5vrq289cw983rydalx0cy91afv5gigyadsmyam2";
   };
 
+  nativeBuildInputs = [ pkgconfig ];
+
   buildInputs = [
     at-spi2-core
-    pkgconfig
     pygobject3
   ];
 
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
index da37e6e7b0ac..47d463464b35 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
@@ -531,7 +531,9 @@ in {
 
   pyannotate = callPackage ../development/python-modules/pyannotate { };
 
-  pyatspi = callPackage ../development/python-modules/pyatspi { };
+  pyatspi = callPackage ../development/python-modules/pyatspi {
+    inherit (pkgs) pkgconfig;
+  };
 
   pyaxmlparser = callPackage ../development/python-modules/pyaxmlparser { };