diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/vagrant/default.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/vagrant/default.nix
index 4ef723c9a1fa..ea3382f3e706 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/vagrant/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/vagrant/default.nix
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ let
       for gem in "$out"/lib/ruby/gems/*/gems/*; do
         cp -a "$gem/" "$gem.new"
         rm "$gem"
+        # needed on macOS, otherwise the mv yields permission denied 
+        chmod +w "$gem.new"
         mv "$gem.new" "$gem"
       done
     '';