diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/li/libportal/package.nix b/pkgs/by-name/li/libportal/package.nix
index 2ac26a43b3b8..a26b79f2b48d 100644
--- a/pkgs/by-name/li/libportal/package.nix
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/li/libportal/package.nix
@@ -102,5 +102,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     license = lib.licenses.lgpl3Plus;
     maintainers = with lib.maintainers; [ jtojnar ];
     platforms = lib.platforms.unix;
+    # needs memfd_create which is available on some unixes but not darwin
+    badPlatforms = [ lib.systems.inspect.patterns.isDarwin ];
   };
 }