diff --git a/pkgs/tools/typesetting/tex/texlive/combine.nix b/pkgs/tools/typesetting/tex/texlive/combine.nix
index cb4bc14927d..ee4d0dfe588 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/typesetting/tex/texlive/combine.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/typesetting/tex/texlive/combine.nix
@@ -153,7 +153,8 @@ in buildEnv {
       rm "$link"
       makeWrapper "$target" "$link" \
         --prefix PATH : "$out/bin:${perl}/bin" \
-        --prefix PERL5LIB : "$PERL5LIB"
+        --prefix PERL5LIB : "$PERL5LIB" \
+        --set-default TEXMFCNF "$TEXMFCNF"
 
       # avoid using non-nix shebang in $target by calling interpreter
       if [[ "$(head -c 2 "$target")" = "#!" ]]; then