diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/nedit/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/nedit/default.nix
index 4ff8c759a26..e1d1fa3070a 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/nedit/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/nedit/default.nix
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   pname = "nedit";
   version = "5.7";
-  
+
   src = fetchurl {
     url = "mirror://sourceforge/nedit/nedit-source/${pname}-${version}-src.tar.gz";
     sha256 = "0ym1zhjx9976rf2z5nr7dj4mjkxcicimhs686snjhdcpzxwsrndd";
@@ -14,9 +14,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   nativeBuildInputs = [ xlibsWrapper ];
   buildInputs = [ motif libXpm ];
 
-  buildFlags = if stdenv.isLinux then "linux" else
-               # the linux config works fine on darwin too!
-               if stdenv.isDarwin then "linux" else "";
+  # the linux config works fine on darwin too!
+  buildFlags = stdenv.lib.optional (stdenv.isLinux || stdenv.isDarwin) "linux";
 
   NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE="-DBUILD_UNTESTED_NEDIT -L${motif}/lib";