diff --git a/pkgs/applications/networking/mailreaders/thunderbird/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/networking/mailreaders/thunderbird/default.nix
index cdb52ec8d23..d67bf085481 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/networking/mailreaders/thunderbird/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/networking/mailreaders/thunderbird/default.nix
@@ -90,6 +90,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   '';
 
   enableParallelBuilding = true;
+  requiredSystemFeatures = [ "big-parallel" ];
 
   buildPhase =  "../mozilla/mach build";