diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/ae/aescrypt/package.nix b/pkgs/by-name/ae/aescrypt/package.nix
index 5b01512cc890..3d83142a94a1 100644
--- a/pkgs/by-name/ae/aescrypt/package.nix
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/ae/aescrypt/package.nix
@@ -14,7 +14,9 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
     sha256 = "sha256-4uGS0LReq5dI7+Wel7ZWzFXx+utZWi93q4TUSw7AhNI=";
   };
 
-  NIX_LDFLAGS = lib.optionalString stdenv.hostPlatform.isDarwin "-liconv";
+  env = lib.optionalAttrs stdenv.hostPlatform.isDarwin {
+    NIX_LDFLAGS = "-liconv";
+  };
 
   preBuild = ''
     substituteInPlace src/Makefile --replace "CC=gcc" "CC?=gcc"