diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/perf.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/perf.nix
index 9f32e3e37dd..07dd8c78f42 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/perf.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/perf.nix
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   # perf refers both to newt and slang
   nativeBuildInputs = [
     asciidoc xmlto docbook_xsl docbook_xml_dtd_45 libxslt
-    flex bison libiberty audit makeWrapper pkgconfig
+    flex bison libiberty audit makeWrapper pkgconfig python3
   ];
   buildInputs = [
     elfutils newt slang libunwind libbfd zlib openssl systemtap.stapBuild numactl
@@ -54,6 +54,10 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
     "-Wno-error=stringop-truncation"
   ];
 
+  postPatch = ''
+    patchShebangs scripts/bpf_helpers_doc.py
+  '';
+
   doCheck = false; # requires "sparse"
   doInstallCheck = false; # same