diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/chafa/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/chafa/default.nix
index 75ff4467d710..f3d486d94549 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/chafa/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/chafa/default.nix
@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   patches = [ ./xmlcatalog_patch.patch ];
 
   preConfigure = ''
-    ./autogen.sh
+    substituteInPlace ./autogen.sh --replace pkg-config '$PKG_CONFIG'
+    NOCONFIGURE=1 ./autogen.sh
   '';
 
   configureFlags = [ "--enable-man"