diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/parsing/bison/bison-2.5.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/parsing/bison/bison-2.5.nix
index 87753d472f3..98c465a185c 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/parsing/bison/bison-2.5.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/parsing/bison/bison-2.5.nix
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     ++ stdenv.lib.optional doCheck perl;
   propagatedBuildInputs = [ m4 ];
 
+  M4 = "m4";
+
   doCheck = true;
 
   meta = {