diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/php-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/php-packages.nix
index 19feb36aa27..932c2a867f0 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/php-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/php-packages.nix
@@ -501,7 +501,9 @@ lib.makeScope pkgs.newScope (self: with self; {
         doCheck = false; }
       { name = "xmlreader";
         buildInputs = [ libxml2 ];
-        configureFlags = [ "--enable-xmlreader CFLAGS=-I../.." ]
+        internalDeps = [ php.extensions.dom ];
+        NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE = [ "-I../.." "-DHAVE_DOM" ];
+        configureFlags = [ "--enable-xmlreader" ]
           # Required to build on darwin.
           ++ lib.optional (lib.versionOlder php.version "7.4") [ "--with-libxml-dir=${libxml2.dev}" ]; }
       { name = "xmlrpc";