diff --git a/pkgs/applications/misc/mupdf/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/misc/mupdf/default.nix
index c9523581b0a9..99ca27514345 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/misc/mupdf/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/misc/mupdf/default.nix
@@ -64,11 +64,9 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     substituteInPlace Makerules --replace "(shell pkg-config" "(shell $PKG_CONFIG"
   '';
 
-  # Use shared libraries to decrease size
-  buildFlags = [ "shared" ];
-
   makeFlags = [
     "prefix=$(out)"
+    "shared=yes"
     "USE_SYSTEM_LIBS=yes"
     "PKG_CONFIG=${buildPackages.pkg-config}/bin/${buildPackages.pkg-config.targetPrefix}pkg-config"
   ] ++ lib.optionals (!enableX11) [ "HAVE_X11=no" ]