diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/mpich/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/mpich/default.nix
index 9227cd705430..3aed0d288527 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/mpich/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/mpich/default.nix
@@ -26,7 +26,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation  rec {
 
   enableParallelBuilding = true;
 
-  buildInputs = [ perl gfortran openssh hwloc ]
+  nativeBuildInputs = [ gfortran ];
+  buildInputs = [ perl openssh hwloc ]
     ++ lib.optional (!stdenv.isDarwin) ch4backend;
 
   doCheck = true;