diff --git a/pkgs/applications/virtualization/qemu/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/virtualization/qemu/default.nix
index d83c6d350e2..8f6b1ed9a92 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/virtualization/qemu/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/virtualization/qemu/default.nix
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   postFixup = ''
     # the .desktop is both invalid and pointless
-    rm -f $out/share/applications/qemu.desktop
+    test -e $out/share/applications/qemu.desktop && rm -f $out/share/applications/qemu.desktop
 
     # copy qemu-ga (guest agent) to separate output
     mkdir -p $ga/bin