diff --git a/pkgs/tools/typesetting/tex/nix/run-latex.sh b/pkgs/tools/typesetting/tex/nix/run-latex.sh
index 2886057c8945..fa27520d11cd 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/typesetting/tex/nix/run-latex.sh
+++ b/pkgs/tools/typesetting/tex/nix/run-latex.sh
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ source $stdenv/setup
 
 mkdir -p $out
 
+export VARTEXFONTS=$TMPDIR/texfonts
 export TEXMFCNF=$TMPDIR:
 echo 'max_print_line = 8192' >> $TMPDIR/texmf.cnf