diff --git a/pkgs/desktops/gnome/apps/gnome-books/default.nix b/pkgs/desktops/gnome/apps/gnome-books/default.nix
index ec99e915fab1..ad815fca918a 100644
--- a/pkgs/desktops/gnome/apps/gnome-books/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/desktops/gnome/apps/gnome-books/default.nix
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   };
 
   meta = with lib; {
+    broken = true; # won't build with current meson; upstream is dead/archived
     homepage = "https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Books";
     description = "An e-book manager application for GNOME";
     maintainers = teams.gnome.members;