diff --git a/pkgs/applications/networking/p2p/transmission/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/networking/p2p/transmission/default.nix
index 24b7a50b032..b85970df4b4 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/networking/p2p/transmission/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/networking/p2p/transmission/default.nix
@@ -21,8 +21,10 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     ++ optionals enableGTK3 [ gtk3 makeWrapper ]
     ++ optional stdenv.isLinux systemd;
 
-  preConfigure = ''
-    sed -i -e 's|/usr/bin/file|${file}/bin/file|g' configure
+  postPatch = ''
+    substituteInPlace ./configure \
+      --replace "libsystemd-daemon" "libsystemd" \
+      --replace "/usr/bin/file"     "${file}/bin/file"
   '';
 
   configureFlags = [ "--with-systemd-daemon" ]