diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/gnome-menus/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/gnome-menus/default.nix
index 68c618980955..171c6d40fac1 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/gnome-menus/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/gnome-menus/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ stdenv, fetchurl, intltool, pkgconfig, glib, gobject-introspection }:
+{ stdenv, fetchurl, pkgconfig, glib, gobject-introspection }:
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   pname = "gnome-menus";
@@ -9,10 +9,13 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     sha256 = "1iihxcibjg22jxsw3s1cxzcq0rhn1rdmx4xg7qjqij981afs8dr7";
   };
 
-  makeFlags = "INTROSPECTION_GIRDIR=$(out)/share/gir-1.0/ INTROSPECTION_TYPELIBDIR=$(out)/lib/girepository-1.0";
+  makeFlags = [
+    "INTROSPECTION_GIRDIR=${placeholder ''out''}/share/gir-1.0/"
+    "INTROSPECTION_TYPELIBDIR=${placeholder ''out''}/lib/girepository-1.0"
+  ];
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [ pkgconfig ];
-  buildInputs = [ intltool glib gobject-introspection ];
+  buildInputs = [ glib gobject-introspection ];
 
   meta = {
     homepage = https://www.gnome.org;