diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/xgboost/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/xgboost/default.nix
index 4370a27012dc..319b447818cf 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/xgboost/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/xgboost/default.nix
@@ -1,6 +1,18 @@
-{ config, stdenv, lib, fetchFromGitHub, cmake, gtest, doCheck ? true
-, cudaSupport ? config.cudaSupport or false, ncclSupport ? false
-, rLibrary ? false, cudaPackages, llvmPackages, R, rPackages }:
+{ config
+, stdenv
+, lib
+, fetchFromGitHub
+, cmake
+, gtest
+, doCheck ? true
+, cudaSupport ? config.cudaSupport or false
+, ncclSupport ? false
+, rLibrary ? false
+, cudaPackages
+, llvmPackages
+, R
+, rPackages
+}:
 
 assert ncclSupport -> cudaSupport;
 # Disable regular tests when building the R package
@@ -51,9 +63,13 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   cmakeFlags = lib.optionals doCheck [ "-DGOOGLE_TEST=ON" ]
     ++ lib.optionals cudaSupport [
-      "-DUSE_CUDA=ON"
-      "-DCUDA_HOST_COMPILER=${cudaPackages.cudatoolkit.cc}/bin/cc"
-    ] ++ lib.optionals (cudaSupport
+    "-DUSE_CUDA=ON"
+    # Their CMakeLists.txt does not respect CUDA_HOST_COMPILER, instead using the CXX compiler.
+    # https://github.com/dmlc/xgboost/blob/ccf43d4ba0a94e2f0a3cc5a526197539ae46f410/CMakeLists.txt#L145
+    "-DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=${cudaPackages.cudatoolkit.cc}/bin/gcc"
+    "-DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=${cudaPackages.cudatoolkit.cc}/bin/g++"
+  ] ++ lib.optionals
+    (cudaSupport
       && lib.versionAtLeast cudaPackages.cudatoolkit.version "11.4.0")
     [ "-DBUILD_WITH_CUDA_CUB=ON" ]
     ++ lib.optionals ncclSupport [ "-DUSE_NCCL=ON" ]