diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/tora/default.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/tora/default.nix
index ad8fef2839c1..ce8fc1d8ea23 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/tora/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/tora/default.nix
@@ -70,7 +70,13 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   ];
 
   # these libraries are only searched for at runtime so we need to force-link them
-  NIX_LDFLAGS = "-lgvc -lmysqlclient -lecpg -lssl -L${libmysqlclient}/lib/mariadb";
+  env.NIX_LDFLAGS = toString [
+    "-lgvc"
+    "-lmysqlclient"
+    "-lecpg"
+    "-lssl"
+    "-L${libmysqlclient}/lib/mariadb"
+  ];
 
   qtWrapperArgs = [
     "--prefix PATH : ${lib.getBin graphviz}/bin"