diff --git a/pkgs/games/cataclysm-dda/common.nix b/pkgs/games/cataclysm-dda/common.nix
index af20169a6e08..4e39a64c4001 100644
--- a/pkgs/games/cataclysm-dda/common.nix
+++ b/pkgs/games/cataclysm-dda/common.nix
@@ -40,12 +40,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   buildInputs = cursesDeps ++ optionals tiles tilesDeps;
 
   postPatch = ''
-    patchShebangs .
-
-    # Locale patch required for Darwin builds, see:
-    # https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/74064#issuecomment-560083970
-    sed -i src/translations.cpp \
-        -e 's@#elif (defined(__linux__) || (defined(MACOSX) && !defined(TILES)))@#elif 1@'
+    patchShebangs lang/compile_mo.sh
   '';
 
   makeFlags = [
diff --git a/pkgs/games/cataclysm-dda/locale-path-stable.patch b/pkgs/games/cataclysm-dda/locale-path-stable.patch
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..db8592646f0d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/games/cataclysm-dda/locale-path-stable.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+diff --git a/src/translations.cpp b/src/translations.cpp
+index fa0ee479b2..0e470098dc 100644
+--- a/src/translations.cpp
++++ b/src/translations.cpp
+@@ -141,15 +141,11 @@ void select_language()
+ std::string locale_dir()
+ {
+     std::string loc_dir;
+-#if !defined(__ANDROID__) && ((defined(__linux__) || defined(BSD) || (defined(MACOSX) && !defined(TILES))))
+     if( !PATH_INFO::base_path().empty() ) {
+         loc_dir = PATH_INFO::base_path() + "share/locale";
+     } else {
+         loc_dir = PATH_INFO::langdir();
+     }
+-#else
+-    loc_dir = PATH_INFO::langdir();
+-#endif
+     return loc_dir;
+ }
+ 
diff --git a/pkgs/games/cataclysm-dda/stable.nix b/pkgs/games/cataclysm-dda/stable.nix
index 453f5ceacae1..52f3ca41f480 100644
--- a/pkgs/games/cataclysm-dda/stable.nix
+++ b/pkgs/games/cataclysm-dda/stable.nix
@@ -19,6 +19,11 @@ let
       sha256 = "sha256-2su1uQaWl9WG41207dRvOTdVKcQsEz/y0uTi9JX52uI=";
     };
 
+    patches = [
+      # Unconditionally look for translation files in $out/share/locale
+      ./locale-path-stable.patch
+    ];
+
     makeFlags = common.makeFlags ++ [
       # Makefile declares version as 0.F, with no minor release number
       "VERSION=${version}"