diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/vim/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/vim/default.nix
index 4920dd76bd1..dec93327167 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/vim/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/vim/default.nix
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     sha256 = "079201qk8g9yisrrb0dn52ch96z3lzw6z473dydw9fzi0xp5spaw";
   };
  
-  buildInputs = [ ncurses gettext pkgconfig ];
+  buildInputs = [ ncurses pkgconfig ];
+  buildNativeInputs = [ gettext ];
 
   configureFlags = [
     "--enable-multibyte"
@@ -28,9 +29,17 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
       "vim_cv_stat_ignores_slash=yes"
       "ac_cv_sizeof_int=4"
       "vim_cv_memmove_handles_overlap=yes"
+      "vim_cv_memmove_handles_overlap=yes"
       "STRIP=${stdenv.cross.config}-strip"
     ];
   };
+
+  # To fix the trouble in vim73, that it cannot cross-build with this patch
+  # to bypass a configure script check that cannot be done cross-building.
+  # http://groups.google.com/group/vim_dev/browse_thread/thread/66c02efd1523554b?pli=1
+  patchPhase = ''
+    sed -i -e 's/as_fn_error.*int32.*/:/' src/auto/configure
+  '';
   
   meta = {
     description = "The most popular clone of the VI editor";