diff --git a/pkgs/desktops/xfce/core/gtk-xfce-engine.nix b/pkgs/desktops/xfce/core/gtk-xfce-engine.nix
index 25ba1e252d4..6e5ac7c55ea 100644
--- a/pkgs/desktops/xfce/core/gtk-xfce-engine.nix
+++ b/pkgs/desktops/xfce/core/gtk-xfce-engine.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ stdenv, fetchurl, pkgconfig, intltool, gtk }:
+{ stdenv, fetchurl, pkgconfig, intltool, gtk, withGtk3 ? false, gtk3 }:
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   p_name  = "gtk-xfce-engine";
@@ -11,7 +11,9 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   };
   name = "${p_name}-${ver_maj}.${ver_min}";
 
-  buildInputs = [ pkgconfig intltool gtk ];
+  buildInputs = [ pkgconfig intltool gtk ] ++ stdenv.lib.optional withGtk3 gtk3;
+  
+  configureFlags = stdenv.lib.optional withGtk3 "--enable-gtk3";
 
   meta = {
     homepage = http://www.xfce.org/;
diff --git a/pkgs/desktops/xfce/default.nix b/pkgs/desktops/xfce/default.nix
index 96e6c55162a..3ea3721362b 100644
--- a/pkgs/desktops/xfce/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/desktops/xfce/default.nix
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ xfce_self = rec { # the lines are very long but it seems better than the even-od
 
   exo             = callPackage ./core/exo.nix { };
   garcon          = callPackage ./core/garcon.nix { };
-  gtk_xfce_engine = callPackage ./core/gtk-xfce-engine.nix { }; # ToDo: when should be used?
+  gtk_xfce_engine = callPackage ./core/gtk-xfce-engine.nix { withGtk3 = true; }; # ToDo: when should be used?
   libxfce4ui      = callPackage ./core/libxfce4ui.nix { };
   libxfce4ui_gtk3 = libxfce4ui.override { withGtk3 = true; };
   libxfce4util    = callPackage ./core/libxfce4util.nix { };