diff --git a/pkgs/applications/version-management/gitlab/gitaly/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/version-management/gitlab/gitaly/default.nix
index a30cc0b03847..a946c7fa7ca5 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/version-management/gitlab/gitaly/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/version-management/gitlab/gitaly/default.nix
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ let
     inherit ruby;
     gemdir = ./.;
     gemset =
-      let x = import "${gemdir}/gemset.nix";
+      let x = import (gemdir + "/gemset.nix");
       in x // {
         # grpc expects the AR environment variable to contain `ar rpc`. See the
         # discussion in nixpkgs #63056.