diff --git a/pkgs/development/r-modules/default.nix b/pkgs/development/r-modules/default.nix
index 6a1a28060f7..32989e45449 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/r-modules/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/r-modules/default.nix
@@ -249,7 +249,7 @@ let
     ChemmineOB = [ pkgs.openbabel pkgs.pkgconfig ];
     cit = [ pkgs.gsl_1 ];
     curl = [ pkgs.curl.dev ];
-    data_table = lib.optional stdenv.isDarwin pkgs.llvmPackages.openmp;
+    data_table = [pkgs.zlib.dev] ++ lib.optional stdenv.isDarwin pkgs.llvmPackages.openmp;
     devEMF = [ pkgs.xorg.libXft.dev pkgs.x11 ];
     diversitree = [ pkgs.gsl_1 pkgs.fftw ];
     EMCluster = [ pkgs.liblapack ];