diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/pyre/default.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/pyre/default.nix
index a62310878ba..b51f6344c9b 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/pyre/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/pyre/default.nix
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ let
     export HOME=.
 
     # "external" because https://github.com/facebook/pyre-check/pull/8/files
-    sed "s/%VERSION%/external ${pyre-version}/" Makefile.template > Makefile
+    cp Makefile.template Makefile
     sed "s/%VERSION%/external/" dune.in > dune
 
     cp ${versionFile} ./scripts/generate-version-number.sh