diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs/elisp-packages/melpa-packages.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs/elisp-packages/melpa-packages.nix
index 0a2e620c1833..871402905ee5 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs/elisp-packages/melpa-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs/elisp-packages/melpa-packages.nix
@@ -601,7 +601,7 @@ let
             export EZMQ_LIBDIR=$(mktemp -d)
             make
           '';
-          nativeBuildInputs = [
+          nativeBuildInputs = old.nativeBuildInputs ++ [
             pkgs.autoconf
             pkgs.automake
             pkgs.pkg-config