diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/xdg-desktop-portal/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/xdg-desktop-portal/default.nix
index 53a0d3b617e8..a8477e370da0 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/xdg-desktop-portal/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/xdg-desktop-portal/default.nix
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 , wrapGAppsHook3
 , xmlto
 , enableGeoLocation ? true
+, enableSystemd ? true
 }:
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
@@ -78,7 +79,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
     flatpak
     fuse3
     bubblewrap
-    systemdMinimal # libsystemd
     glib
     gsettings-desktop-schemas
     json-glib
@@ -95,6 +95,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
     ]))
   ] ++ lib.optionals enableGeoLocation [
     geoclue2
+  ] ++ lib.optionals enableSystemd [
+    systemdMinimal # libsystemd
   ];
 
   nativeCheckInputs = [
@@ -109,6 +111,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
     "--sysconfdir=/etc"
     "-Dinstalled-tests=true"
     "-Dinstalled_test_prefix=${placeholder "installedTests"}"
+    (lib.mesonEnable "systemd" enableSystemd)
   ] ++ lib.optionals (!enableGeoLocation) [
     "-Dgeoclue=disabled"
   ];