diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/te/tectonic-unwrapped/package.nix b/pkgs/by-name/te/tectonic-unwrapped/package.nix
index bce4aa2d1d38..7b8be90f7423 100644
--- a/pkgs/by-name/te/tectonic-unwrapped/package.nix
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/te/tectonic-unwrapped/package.nix
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ buildRustPackage (finalAttrs: {
   ''
   + lib.optionalString clangStdenv.hostPlatform.isLinux ''
     substituteInPlace dist/appimage/tectonic.desktop \
-      --replace Exec=tectonic Exec=$out/bin/tectonic
+      --replace-fail Exec=tectonic Exec=$out/bin/tectonic
     install -Dm644 dist/appimage/tectonic.desktop -t $out/share/applications/
     install -Dm644 dist/appimage/tectonic.svg -t $out/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/
   '';