diff --git a/pkgs/development/haskell-modules/configuration-nix.nix b/pkgs/development/haskell-modules/configuration-nix.nix
index 813ab160a2cf..da63ec0c22a0 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/haskell-modules/configuration-nix.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/haskell-modules/configuration-nix.nix
@@ -706,4 +706,8 @@ self: super: builtins.intersectAttrs super {
         wrapProgram $out/bin/mplayer-spot --prefix PATH : "${path}"
       '';
     });
+
+  # break infinite recursion with base-orphans
+  primitive = dontCheck super.primitive;
+
 }