diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/hdf5/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/hdf5/default.nix
index dc2a1d284527..39c0b680b002 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/hdf5/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/hdf5/default.nix
@@ -72,7 +72,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   cmakeFlags = [
     "-DHDF5_INSTALL_CMAKE_DIR=${placeholder "dev"}/lib/cmake"
-  ] ++ lib.optional cppSupport "-DHDF5_BUILD_CPP_LIB=ON"
+  ] ++ lib.optional stdenv.isDarwin "-DHDF5_BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_NAME=ON"
+    ++ lib.optional cppSupport "-DHDF5_BUILD_CPP_LIB=ON"
     ++ lib.optional fortranSupport "-DHDF5_BUILD_FORTRAN=ON"
     ++ lib.optional szipSupport "-DHDF5_ENABLE_SZIP_SUPPORT=ON"
     ++ lib.optionals mpiSupport [ "-DHDF5_ENABLE_PARALLEL=ON" "CC=${mpi}/bin/mpicc" ]