diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs/elisp-packages/melpa-packages.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs/elisp-packages/melpa-packages.nix
index 871402905ee5..8f5f1dc45a26 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs/elisp-packages/melpa-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs/elisp-packages/melpa-packages.nix
@@ -687,7 +687,7 @@ let
         };
 
         vterm = super.vterm.overrideAttrs (old: {
-          nativeBuildInputs = [ pkgs.cmake ];
+          nativeBuildInputs = old.nativeBuildInputs ++ [ pkgs.cmake ];
           buildInputs = old.buildInputs ++ [ self.emacs pkgs.libvterm-neovim ];
           cmakeFlags = [
             "-DEMACS_SOURCE=${self.emacs.src}"