diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/birdfont/xmlbird.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/birdfont/xmlbird.nix
index e5ad56376ca..eddcba1c9c8 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/birdfont/xmlbird.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/birdfont/xmlbird.nix
@@ -13,7 +13,11 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   buildInputs = [ glib ];
 
-  postPatch = "patchShebangs .";
+  postPatch = ''
+    substituteInPlace configure \
+      --replace 'platform.dist()[0]' '"nix"'
+    patchShebangs .
+  '';
 
   buildPhase = "./build.py";
 
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index f4e846397b5..f2a608f4dff 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -2566,7 +2566,7 @@ in
   biblatex-check = callPackage ../tools/typesetting/biblatex-check { };
 
   birdfont = callPackage ../tools/misc/birdfont { };
-  xmlbird = callPackage ../tools/misc/birdfont/xmlbird.nix { };
+  xmlbird = callPackage ../tools/misc/birdfont/xmlbird.nix { stdenv = gccStdenv; };
 
   blastem = callPackage ../misc/emulators/blastem {
     inherit (python27Packages) pillow;