diff --git a/pkgs/tools/package-management/rpm/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/package-management/rpm/default.nix
index 78d815eb7c1..6a9c4667128 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/package-management/rpm/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/package-management/rpm/default.nix
@@ -13,8 +13,13 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   buildInputs = [ cpio zlib bzip2 file libarchive nspr nss db xz python lua pkgconfig autoreconfHook ];
 
-  # rpm/rpmlib.h includes popt.h, and then the pkg-config file mentions these as linkage requirements
-  propagatedBuildInputs = [ popt elfutils nss db bzip2 libarchive binutils ];
+  # rpm/rpmlib.h includes popt.h, and then the pkg-config file mentions these as
+  # linkage requirements
+  #
+  # Binutils.binutils for headers
+  propagatedBuildInputs = [
+    popt elfutils nss db bzip2 libarchive binutils binutils.binutils
+  ];
 
   NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE = "-I${nspr.dev}/include/nspr -I${nss.dev}/include/nss";