diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/lightgbm/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/lightgbm/default.nix
index 10dbcafd04b..f428e7dbfba 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/lightgbm/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/lightgbm/default.nix
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
     cmake
   ];
 
+  dontUseCmakeConfigure = true;
+
   # we never actually explicitly call the install command so this is the only way
   # to inject these options to it - however, openmp-library doesn't appear to have
   # any effect, so we have to inject it into NIX_LDFLAGS manually below