diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/libxml2/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/libxml2/default.nix
index 04954f3e1f5..2d2fb89d595 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/libxml2/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/libxml2/default.nix
@@ -1,15 +1,12 @@
 { stdenv, lib, fetchurl
-, zlib, xz, python2, ncurses, findXMLCatalogs
+, zlib, xz, python, ncurses, findXMLCatalogs
 , pythonSupport ? stdenv.buildPlatform == stdenv.hostPlatform
 , icuSupport ? false, icu ? null
 , enableShared ? stdenv.hostPlatform.libc != "msvcrt"
 , enableStatic ? !enableShared,
 }:
 
-let
-  python = python2;
-
-in stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
+stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   pname = "libxml2";
   version = "2.9.9";
 
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index f2a80fdc0b6..cc35ae589c6 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -12723,7 +12723,9 @@ in
 
   libxmi = callPackage ../development/libraries/libxmi { };
 
-  libxml2 = callPackage ../development/libraries/libxml2 { };
+  libxml2 = callPackage ../development/libraries/libxml2 {
+    python = if stdenv.isDarwin then python2 else python3;
+  };
 
   libxml2Python = pkgs.buildEnv { # slightly hacky
     name = "libxml2+py-${res.libxml2.version}";
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
index d723bdb2b63..0a171d3a9cf 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
@@ -3689,7 +3689,7 @@ in {
   libplist = disabledIf isPy3k
     (toPythonModule (pkgs.libplist.override{python2Packages=self; })).py;
 
-  libxml2 = toPythonModule (pkgs.libxml2.override{pythonSupport=true; python2=python;}).py;
+  libxml2 = toPythonModule (pkgs.libxml2.override{pythonSupport=true; inherit python;}).py;
 
   libxslt = disabledIf isPy3k
     (toPythonModule (pkgs.libxslt.override{pythonSupport=true; python2=python; inherit (self) libxml2;})).py;