diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs/elisp-packages/melpa-packages.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs/elisp-packages/melpa-packages.nix
index d580b0dfdb71..25dd378f03f6 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs/elisp-packages/melpa-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs/elisp-packages/melpa-packages.nix
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ let
           #   - https://github.com/vedang/pdf-tools/issues/109
           CXXFLAGS = "-std=c++17";
 
-          nativeBuildInputs = [
+          nativeBuildInputs = old.nativeBuildInputs ++ [
             pkgs.autoconf
             pkgs.automake
             pkgs.pkg-config