diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-3/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-3/default.nix
index 79bfe004881e..8c6412eef9a6 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-3/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-3/default.nix
@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
 
   buildInputs = [x11 libXft libXrender zlib libjpeg libpng which];
 
+  # Don't strip everything so we can get useful backtraces.
+  patches = [./strip.patch];
+  
   inherit threadSupport xftSupport libXft xrenderSupport libXrender;
   inherit mysqlSupport mysql;
   inherit (libXft) freetype fontconfig;
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-3/strip.patch b/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-3/strip.patch
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..a0c9fa738898
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-3/strip.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+diff -rc qt-x11-free-3.3.3-orig/mkspecs/linux-g++/qmake.conf qt-x11-free-3.3.3/mkspecs/linux-g++/qmake.conf
+*** qt-x11-free-3.3.3-orig/mkspecs/linux-g++/qmake.conf	2004-08-05 16:42:57.000000000 +0200
+--- qt-x11-free-3.3.3/mkspecs/linux-g++/qmake.conf	2005-03-02 12:25:55.000000000 +0100
+***************
+*** 85,90 ****
+  QMAKE_DEL_FILE		= rm -f
+  QMAKE_DEL_DIR		= rmdir
+  QMAKE_STRIP             = strip
+! QMAKE_STRIPFLAGS_LIB 	+= --strip-unneeded
+  QMAKE_CHK_DIR_EXISTS	= test -d
+  QMAKE_MKDIR		= mkdir -p
+--- 85,90 ----
+  QMAKE_DEL_FILE		= rm -f
+  QMAKE_DEL_DIR		= rmdir
+  QMAKE_STRIP             = strip
+! QMAKE_STRIPFLAGS_LIB 	+= --strip-debug
+  QMAKE_CHK_DIR_EXISTS	= test -d
+  QMAKE_MKDIR		= mkdir -p