diff --git a/pkgs/development/compilers/emscripten/default.nix b/pkgs/development/compilers/emscripten/default.nix
index 0214177a5bc..dacf0937154 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/compilers/emscripten/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/compilers/emscripten/default.nix
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   nodeModules = mkYarnModules {
     name = "emscripten-node-modules-${version}";
     inherit pname version;
+    # it is vitally important the the package.json has name and version fields
     packageJSON = ./package.json;
     yarnLock = ./yarn.lock;
     yarnNix = ./yarn.nix;
diff --git a/pkgs/development/compilers/emscripten/package.json b/pkgs/development/compilers/emscripten/package.json
index fa0feeace0c..039d215efcd 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/compilers/emscripten/package.json
+++ b/pkgs/development/compilers/emscripten/package.json
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 {
+  "name": "emscripten",
+  "version": "2.0.1",
   "private": true,
   "devDependencies": {
     "ws": "~0.4.28"