diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-4.x/4.8/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-4.x/4.8/default.nix
index 07a7993a67f..788fb874140 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-4.x/4.8/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-4.x/4.8/default.nix
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
       ./libressl.patch
       (substituteAll {
         src = ./dlopen-absolute-paths.diff;
-        cups = cups.out;
+        cups = if cups != null then cups.out else null;
         icu = icu.out;
         libXfixes = libXfixes.out;
         glibc = stdenv.cc.libc.out;