diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/fontconfig/make-fonts-conf.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/fontconfig/make-fonts-conf.nix
index bc231b00e339..f28d92b18c9b 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/fontconfig/make-fonts-conf.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/fontconfig/make-fonts-conf.nix
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@ runCommand "fonts.conf"
   ''
     for fd in $fontDirectories;
     do
-      if [ ! -d "$fd/share/fonts" ]; then
-        echo "ERROR: '$fd/share/fonts/' doesn't exist"
+      if [ ! -d "$fd/share/fonts" ] && [ ! -d "$fd/lib/X11/fonts" ]; then
+        echo "ERROR: '$fd/' contains neither 'share/fonts/' nor 'lib/X11/fonts/'"
         false
       fi
     done