diff --git a/pkgs/misc/emulators/mednaffe/default.nix b/pkgs/misc/emulators/mednaffe/default.nix
index 7777e73d337..21e75a72d61 100644
--- a/pkgs/misc/emulators/mednaffe/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/misc/emulators/mednaffe/default.nix
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   };
 
   prePatch = ''
-    substituteInPlace src/mednaffe.c --replace "binpath = NULL" "binpath = \"${mednafen}/bin/mednafen\""
+    substituteInPlace src/mednaffe.c --replace "binpath = NULL" "binpath = g_strdup( \"${mednafen}/bin/mednafen\" )"
   '';
 
   buildInputs = [ pkgconfig gtk2 mednafen ];