diff --git a/pkgs/development/r-modules/default.nix b/pkgs/development/r-modules/default.nix
index 61b9dd8ba44..f382a125501 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/r-modules/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/r-modules/default.nix
@@ -364,7 +364,7 @@ let
     VBmix = [ pkgs.gsl_1 pkgs.fftw pkgs.qt4 ];
     WhopGenome = [ pkgs.zlib.dev ];
     XBRL = [ pkgs.zlib pkgs.libxml2.dev ];
-    xml2 = [ pkgs.libxml2 ];
+    xml2 = [ pkgs.libxml2.dev ];
     XML = [ pkgs.libtool pkgs.libxml2.dev pkgs.xmlsec pkgs.libxslt ];
     affyPLM = [ pkgs.zlib ];
     bamsignals = [ pkgs.zlib ];