diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/li/libxls/package.nix b/pkgs/by-name/li/libxls/package.nix
index ab020551d986..2b05808ea436 100644
--- a/pkgs/by-name/li/libxls/package.nix
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/li/libxls/package.nix
@@ -6,17 +6,32 @@
   autoconf-archive,
 }:
 
-stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
+stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
   pname = "libxls";
   version = "1.6.3";
 
   src = fetchFromGitHub {
     owner = "libxls";
     repo = "libxls";
-    rev = "v${version}";
+    tag = "v${finalAttrs.version}";
     hash = "sha256-KbITHQ9s2RUeo8zR53R9s4WUM6z8zzddz1k47So0Mlw=";
   };
 
+  # workaround required to build against gettext >= 0.25
+  # https://savannah.gnu.org/support/index.php?111272
+  preAutoreconf = ''
+    autopoint --force
+  '';
+
+  # workaround required to build against gettext >= 0.25
+  # https://savannah.gnu.org/support/index.php?111273
+  autoreconfFlags = [
+    "--include=m4"
+    "--install"
+    "--force"
+    "--verbose"
+  ];
+
   nativeBuildInputs = [
     autoreconfHook
     autoconf-archive
@@ -24,12 +39,15 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   enableParallelBuilding = true;
 
-  meta = with lib; {
+  doCheck = true;
+
+  meta = {
     description = "Extract Cell Data From Excel xls files";
+    changelog = "https://github.com/libxls/libxls/releases/tag/v${finalAttrs.version}";
     homepage = "https://github.com/libxls/libxls";
-    license = licenses.bsd2;
+    license = lib.licenses.bsd2;
     maintainers = [ ];
     mainProgram = "xls2csv";
-    platforms = platforms.unix;
+    platforms = lib.platforms.unix;
   };
-}
+})