diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/syslinux/default.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/syslinux/default.nix
index 734613c44ac..bcbc51ef818 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/syslinux/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/syslinux/default.nix
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   buildInputs = [ nasm perl libuuid ];
 
-  enableParallelBuilding = true;
+  enableParallelBuilding = false; # problems on Hydra
 
   preBuild = ''
     substituteInPlace Makefile --replace /bin/pwd $(type -P pwd)