diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/util-linux-ng/default.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/util-linux-ng/default.nix
index 4e62be4ff32..ba9ae72b73a 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/util-linux-ng/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/util-linux-ng/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ stdenv, fetchurl, ncurses ? null, perl ? null }:
+{ stdenv, fetchurl, zlib, ncurses ? null, perl ? null }:
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   name = "util-linux-ng-2.18";
@@ -19,6 +19,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     ${if ncurses == null then "--without-ncurses" else ""}
   '';
 
-  buildInputs = stdenv.lib.optional (ncurses != null) ncurses
+  buildInputs = [ zlib ] ++ stdenv.lib.optional (ncurses != null) ncurses
              ++ stdenv.lib.optional (perl != null) perl;
 }