diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/gd/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/gd/default.nix
index 4a0d918cabe..3b4533890a7 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/gd/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/gd/default.nix
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
-{ stdenv, fetchurl
-, pkgconfig
+{ stdenv, fetchurl, fetchpatch
+, autoconf
+, automake
+, pkg-config
 , zlib
 , libpng
 , libjpeg ? null
@@ -20,11 +22,24 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   };
 
   hardeningDisable = [ "format" ];
+  patches = [
+    # Fixes an issue where some other packages would fail to build
+    # their documentation with an error like:
+    # "Error: Problem doing text layout"
+    #
+    # Can be removed if Wayland can still be built successfully with
+    # documentation.
+    (fetchpatch {
+      url = "https://github.com/libgd/libgd/commit/3dd0e308cbd2c24fde2fc9e9b707181252a2de95.patch";
+      excludes = [ "tests/gdimagestringft/.gitignore" ];
+      sha256 = "12iqlanl9czig9d7c3rvizrigw2iacimnmimfcny392dv9iazhl1";
+    })
+  ];
 
   # -pthread gets passed to clang, causing warnings
   configureFlags = stdenv.lib.optional stdenv.isDarwin "--enable-werror=no";
 
-  nativeBuildInputs = [ pkgconfig ];
+  nativeBuildInputs = [ autoconf automake pkg-config ];
 
   buildInputs = [ zlib fontconfig freetype ];
   propagatedBuildInputs = [ libpng libjpeg libwebp libtiff libXpm ];
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index c5b03826a8d..69f53ec2540 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -11911,6 +11911,7 @@ in
   gf2x = callPackage ../development/libraries/gf2x {};
 
   gd = callPackage ../development/libraries/gd {
+    automake = automake115x;
     libtiff = null;
     libXpm = null;
   };