diff --git a/pkgs/tools/typesetting/tex/texlive/combine.nix b/pkgs/tools/typesetting/tex/texlive/combine.nix
index 71c81a43ef39..008b519cd830 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/typesetting/tex/texlive/combine.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/typesetting/tex/texlive/combine.nix
@@ -339,6 +339,10 @@ in (buildEnv {
   # and other non-deterministic diagnostics.
   ''
     find "$TEXMFSYSVAR"/web2c -name '*.log' -delete
+  '' +
+  # link TEXMFDIST in $out/share for backward compatibility
+  ''
+    ln -s "$TEXMFDIST" "$out"/share/texmf
   ''
   ;
 }).overrideAttrs (_: { allowSubstitutes = true; })