diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 04a356be18a..e03ec7f207a 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -11011,7 +11011,10 @@ with pkgs;
     introspectionSupport = true;
   });
 
-  poppler_min = poppler.override { # TODO: maybe reduce even more
+  poppler_min = poppler_0_61.override { # TODO: maybe reduce even more
+    # this is currently only used by texlive.bin.
+    # pinned to 0.61 because texlive 2017 doesn't build w/poppler 0.64
+    # TODO: review poppler version for texlive 2018
     minimal = true;
     suffix = "min";
   };