diff --git a/pkgs/applications/science/misc/boinc/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/science/misc/boinc/default.nix
index 6dfcbb0656e..460355b274f 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/science/misc/boinc/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/science/misc/boinc/default.nix
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     sed -i -e s,/etc,$out/etc, client/scripts/Makefile
   '';
 
+  NIX_LDFLAGS = "-lX11";
+
   preConfigure = ''
     ./_autosetup
     configureFlags="$configureFlags --sysconfdir=$out/etc"