diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-24/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-24/default.nix
index 0d10b1db413..91307deb220 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-24/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-24/default.nix
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 { stdenv, fetchurl, ncurses, x11, libXaw, libXpm, Xaw3d
 , pkgconfig, gtk, libXft, dbus, libpng, libjpeg, libungif
 , libtiff, librsvg, texinfo, gconf, libxml2, imagemagick, gnutls
+, alsaLib
 }:
 
 # XXX: ?
@@ -24,7 +25,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   buildInputs = 
     [ ncurses x11 texinfo libXaw Xaw3d libXpm libpng libjpeg libungif
-      libtiff librsvg libXft gconf libxml2 imagemagick gnutls
+      libtiff librsvg libXft gconf libxml2 imagemagick gnutls alsaLib
     ] 
     ++ stdenv.lib.optionals (gtk != null) [ gtk pkgconfig ]
     ++ stdenv.lib.optional stdenv.isLinux dbus;
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index cfa6c6abd0b..7e4c6402184 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -6641,9 +6641,11 @@ let
     Xaw3d = null;
     gtk = if stdenv.isDarwin then null else gtkLibs.gtk;
     # TODO: these packages don't build on Darwin.
-    # XXX: Do we want gconf by default? What is emacs using it for?
     gconf = null /* if stdenv.isDarwin then null else gnome.GConf */;
     librsvg = if stdenv.isDarwin then null else librsvg;
+    # alsa only on linux
+    alsaLib = if stdenv.isLinux then alsaLib else null;
+    imagemagick = imagemagickBig;
   });
 
   emacsPackages = emacs: self: let callPackage = newScope self; in rec {