diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/misc/autoconf/default.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/misc/autoconf/default.nix
index 2203062c438..b7850565d5c 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/misc/autoconf/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/misc/autoconf/default.nix
@@ -12,7 +12,10 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   buildInputs = [ m4 perl ];
 
-  doCheck = true;
+  # Work around a known issue in Cygwin.  See
+  # http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.comp.sysutils.autoconf.bugs/6822 for
+  # details.
+  doCheck = (builtins.currentSystem != "i686-cygwin");
 
   # Don't fixup "#! /bin/sh" in Autoconf, otherwise it will use the
   # "fixed" path in generated files!