diff --git a/pkgs/desktops/gnome-3/apps/gnome-characters/default.nix b/pkgs/desktops/gnome-3/apps/gnome-characters/default.nix
index 8e1b0f33f75..7ca25848374 100644
--- a/pkgs/desktops/gnome-3/apps/gnome-characters/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/desktops/gnome-3/apps/gnome-characters/default.nix
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 { stdenv, fetchurl, meson, ninja, pkgconfig, gettext, gnome3, glib, gtk3, pango, wrapGAppsHook
-, gobjectIntrospection, gjs, gdk_pixbuf, librsvg }:
+, gobjectIntrospection, gjs, gdk_pixbuf, librsvg, libunistring }:
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   name = "gnome-characters-${version}";
@@ -10,6 +10,11 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     sha256 = "14q92ysg7krawxlwv6ymgsxz2plk81wgfz6knlma7lm13jsczmf0";
   };
 
+  postPatch = ''
+    chmod +x meson_post_install.py # patchShebangs requires executable file
+    patchShebangs meson_post_install.py
+  '';
+
   passthru = {
     updateScript = gnome3.updateScript {
       packageName = "gnome-characters";
@@ -18,7 +23,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   };
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [ meson ninja pkgconfig gettext wrapGAppsHook gobjectIntrospection ];
-  buildInputs = [ glib gtk3 gjs pango gnome3.gsettings-desktop-schemas gnome3.defaultIconTheme ];
+  buildInputs = [ glib gtk3 gjs pango gnome3.gsettings-desktop-schemas gnome3.defaultIconTheme libunistring ];
 
   mesonFlags = [
     "-Ddbus_service_dir=${placeholder "out"}/share/dbus-1/services"