diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/netcdf/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/netcdf/default.nix
index ead0b9c35291..544367a2992f 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/netcdf/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/netcdf/default.nix
@@ -56,6 +56,8 @@ in stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   ]
   ++ (lib.optionals mpiSupport [ "--enable-parallel-tests" "CC=${mpi}/bin/mpicc" ]);
 
+  enableParallelBuilding = true;
+
   disallowedReferences = [ stdenv.cc ];
 
   postFixup = ''