diff --git a/pkgs/servers/x11/xorg/default.nix b/pkgs/servers/x11/xorg/default.nix
index 74bfc27aae6c..efe5d06a08b5 100644
--- a/pkgs/servers/x11/xorg/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/servers/x11/xorg/default.nix
@@ -665,6 +665,19 @@ let
       sha256 = "1yaslcpj6sd6s8gx2hv60gfjf515gggd8f2jv4zqbp5q9wcapx0i";
     };
     buildInputs = [pkgconfig printproto libX11 libXau libXext xextproto libXmu libXp libXpm xproto libXt ];
+
+    # The libXaw installation is broken on MacOS X. The package has hard-coded
+    # know-how that assumes shared libraries use an .so suffix. MacOS, however,
+    # uses .dylib. Furthermore, the package fails to install an unversioned
+    # libtool .la file for the library.
+    postInstall = ''
+      cd $out/lib
+      ln -s libXaw8.la libXaw.la
+      if [ ${stdenv.system} = "i686-darwin" ]; then
+        rm *.so*
+	ln -s libXaw8.dylib libXaw.dylib
+      fi
+    '';
   })) // {inherit printproto libX11 libXau libXext xextproto libXmu libXp libXpm xproto libXt ;};
     
   libXcomposite = (stdenv.mkDerivation ((if overrides ? libXcomposite then overrides.libXcomposite else x: x) {