diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/bazel-watcher/default.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/bazel-watcher/default.nix
index 035bc16064d..a30b5c9bd4e 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/bazel-watcher/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/bazel-watcher/default.nix
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@
 , stdenv
 }:
 
+let
+  patches = [ ./use-go-in-path.patch ];
+in
 buildBazelPackage rec {
   name = "bazel-watcher-${version}";
   version = "0.10.3";
@@ -22,11 +25,10 @@ buildBazelPackage rec {
   bazelTarget = "//ibazel";
 
   fetchAttrs = {
+    inherit patches;
+
     preBuild = ''
       patchShebangs .
-
-      # tell rules_go to use the Go binary found in the PATH
-      sed -e 's:go_register_toolchains():go_register_toolchains(go_version = "host"):g' -i WORKSPACE
     '';
 
     preInstall = ''
@@ -51,11 +53,10 @@ buildBazelPackage rec {
   };
 
   buildAttrs = {
+    inherit patches;
+
     preBuild = ''
       patchShebangs .
-
-      # tell rules_go to use the Go binary found in the PATH
-      sed -e 's:go_register_toolchains():go_register_toolchains(go_version = "host"):g' -i WORKSPACE
     '';
 
     installPhase = ''
diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/bazel-watcher/use-go-in-path.patch b/pkgs/development/tools/bazel-watcher/use-go-in-path.patch
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..010ba56165d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/bazel-watcher/use-go-in-path.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+diff --git a/WORKSPACE b/WORKSPACE
+index 51273b6..fcf9ffb 100644
+--- a/WORKSPACE
++++ b/WORKSPACE
+@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ load("@io_bazel_rules_go//go:deps.bzl", "go_register_toolchains", "go_rules_depe
+ 
+ go_rules_dependencies()
+ 
+-go_register_toolchains()
++go_register_toolchains(go_version = "host")
+ 
+ load("@bazel_gazelle//:deps.bzl", "gazelle_dependencies", "go_repository")
+