diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/li/libspelling/package.nix b/pkgs/by-name/li/libspelling/package.nix
index 0a81e31aa843..56ed10dbf688 100644
--- a/pkgs/by-name/li/libspelling/package.nix
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/li/libspelling/package.nix
@@ -42,14 +42,19 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
   ];
 
   buildInputs = [
-    glib
-    gtk4
-    gtksourceview5
     enchant
     icu
     libsysprof-capture
   ];
 
+  propagatedBuildInputs = [
+    # These were moved from buildInputs because they are
+    # listed in `Requires` key of `libspelling-1.pc`
+    glib
+    gtk4
+    gtksourceview5
+  ];
+
   postFixup = ''
     # Cannot be in postInstall, otherwise _multioutDocs hook in preFixup will move right back.
     moveToOutput "share/doc" "$devdoc"