diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/fltk/fltk13.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/fltk/fltk13.nix
index df89482536f0..262ef8b865e1 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/fltk/fltk13.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/fltk/fltk13.nix
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 { composableDerivation, fetchurl, pkgconfig, x11, inputproto, libXi
 , freeglut, mesa, libjpeg, zlib, libXinerama, libXft, libpng
-
+, cfg ? {}
 , automake, autoconf, libtool
 }:
 
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ composableDerivation.composableDerivation {} {
     localpngSupport = false;
     sharedSupport = true;
     threadsSupport = true;
-  };
+  } // cfg;
 
   meta = {
     description = "A C++ cross-platform light-weight GUI library binding";
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 4b82e3056511..751e201cd82f 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -4782,7 +4782,7 @@ let
   };
 
   octave = callPackage ../development/interpreters/octave {
-    fltk = fltk13;
+    fltk = fltk13.override { cfg.xftSupport = true; };
     qt = null;
     ghostscript = null;
     llvm = null;
@@ -4792,7 +4792,7 @@ let
     jdk = null;
   };
   octaveFull = (lowPrio (callPackage ../development/interpreters/octave {
-    fltk = fltk13;
+    fltk = fltk13.override { cfg.xftSupport = true; };
     qt = qt4;
   }));