diff --git a/pkgs/desktops/gnome-3/misc/pomodoro/default.nix b/pkgs/desktops/gnome-3/misc/pomodoro/default.nix
index 82e56d3f96c..4c3fd5a6c72 100644
--- a/pkgs/desktops/gnome-3/misc/pomodoro/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/desktops/gnome-3/misc/pomodoro/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ stdenv, fetchFromGitHub, autoconf-archive, appstream-glib, intltool, pkgconfig, libtool, wrapGAppsHook,
+{ stdenv, fetchFromGitHub, fetchpatch, autoconf-archive, appstream-glib, intltool, pkgconfig, libtool, wrapGAppsHook,
   dbus-glib, libcanberra, gst_all_1, vala, gnome3, gtk3, libxml2, autoreconfHook,
   glib, gobjectIntrospection, libpeas
 }:
@@ -14,6 +14,14 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     sha256 = "0fiql99nhj168wbfhvzrhfcm4c4569gikd2zaf10vzszdqjahrl1";
   };
 
+  patches = [
+    # build with Vala ≥ 0.42
+    (fetchpatch {
+      url = https://github.com/codito/gnome-pomodoro/commit/36778823ca5bd94b2aa948e5d8718f84d99d9af0.patch;
+      sha256 = "0a9x0p5wny3an9xawam9nhpffw5m4kgwj5jvv0g6c2lwlfzrx2rh";
+    })
+  ];
+
   nativeBuildInputs = [
     autoreconfHook vala autoconf-archive libtool intltool appstream-glib
     wrapGAppsHook pkgconfig libxml2