diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/coal/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/coal/default.nix
index 28a7e1642d4f..30bd354bbdcc 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/coal/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/coal/default.nix
@@ -17,6 +17,17 @@ toPythonModule (
   coal.overrideAttrs (super: {
     pname = "py-${super.pname}";
 
+    # Finding `boost_system` fails because the stub compiled library of
+    # Boost.System, which has been a header-only library since 1.69, was
+    # removed in 1.89.
+    # See https://www.boost.org/releases/1.89.0/ for details.
+    postPatch = ''
+      substituteInPlace CMakeLists.txt \
+        --replace-fail \
+          "find_package(Boost REQUIRED COMPONENTS system)" \
+          "find_package(Boost REQUIRED OPTIONAL_COMPONENTS system)"
+    '';
+
     cmakeFlags = super.cmakeFlags ++ [
       (lib.cmakeBool "BUILD_PYTHON_INTERFACE" true)
       (lib.cmakeBool "BUILD_STANDALONE_PYTHON_INTERFACE" buildStandalone)