diff --git a/pkgs/servers/mail/mailman/web.nix b/pkgs/servers/mail/mailman/web.nix
index b73120c646d2..f770f2e4489d 100644
--- a/pkgs/servers/mail/mailman/web.nix
+++ b/pkgs/servers/mail/mailman/web.nix
@@ -3,9 +3,6 @@
 , django
 }:
 
-if lib.versionOlder "2.2" django.version
-then throw "mailman-web requires django < 2.2"
-else
 buildPythonPackage rec {
   pname = "mailman-web-unstable";
   version = "2019-09-29";
@@ -39,5 +36,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
     description = "Django project for Mailman 3 web interface";
     license = licenses.gpl3;
     maintainers = with maintainers; [ peti qyliss ];
+    # mailman-web requires django < 2.2
+    broken = versionOlder "2.2" django.version;
   };
 }