diff --git a/pkgs/tools/text/groff/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/text/groff/default.nix
index 90beca862c0..b0421a8ed0d 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/text/groff/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/text/groff/default.nix
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     sha256 = "1998v2kcs288d3y7kfxpvl369nqi06zbbvjzafyvyl3pr7bajj1s";
   };
 
+  enableParallelBuilding = false;
+
   buildInputs = [ ghostscript ];
   nativeBuildInputs = [ perl ];