diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/gd/gdm/package.nix b/pkgs/by-name/gd/gdm/package.nix
index 75ecc584896e..9145153e384a 100644
--- a/pkgs/by-name/gd/gdm/package.nix
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/gd/gdm/package.nix
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
     "-Dsystemduserunitdir=${placeholder "out"}/lib/systemd/user"
     "--sysconfdir=/etc"
     "--localstatedir=/var"
+    (lib.mesonOption "run-dir" "/run/gdm")
   ];
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [