diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/libsigrokdecode/default.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/libsigrokdecode/default.nix
index 672dddfc5ca2..6c09b5392e21 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/libsigrokdecode/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/libsigrokdecode/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ lib, stdenv, fetchurl, pkg-config, glib, python3, check, libxcrypt }:
+{ lib, stdenv, fetchurl, pkg-config, autoreconfHook, glib, python3, check, libxcrypt }:
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   pname = "libsigrokdecode";
@@ -9,7 +9,12 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     sha256 = "1h1zi1kpsgf6j2z8j8hjpv1q7n49i3fhqjn8i178rka3cym18265";
   };
 
-  nativeBuildInputs = [ pkg-config ];
+  # upstream was rleased before Python 3.9 and thus only checks versions up to 3.8
+  postPatch = ''
+    substituteInPlace configure.ac --replace '[python-3.8-embed]' '[python3-embed]'
+  '';
+
+  nativeBuildInputs = [ pkg-config autoreconfHook ];
   buildInputs = [ glib python3 libxcrypt ];
   checkInputs = [ check ];
   doCheck = true;
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index cc052e938a44..f74133b9ef9f 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -16801,9 +16801,7 @@ with pkgs;
     python = python3;
   };
 
-  libsigrokdecode = callPackage ../development/tools/libsigrokdecode {
-    python3 = python38;
-  };
+  libsigrokdecode = callPackage ../development/tools/libsigrokdecode { };
 
   # special forks used for dsview
   libsigrok4dsl = callPackage ../applications/science/electronics/dsview/libsigrok4dsl.nix { };