diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/nvi/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/nvi/default.nix
index d08e44699c4..6f33758ce4f 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/nvi/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/nvi/default.nix
@@ -10,8 +10,12 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   buildInputs = [ ncurses ];
 
+  # nvi tries to write to a usual tmp directory (/var/tmp),
+  # so we will force it to use /tmp.
   patchPhase = ''
-    sed -i s/-lcurses/-lncurses/ build/configure
+    sed -i -e s/-lcurses/-lncurses/ \
+      -e s@vi_cv_path_preserve=no@vi_cv_path_preserve=/tmp/vi.recover@ \
+      -e s@/var/tmp@@ build/configure
   '';
 
   configurePhase = ''