diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/bfr/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/bfr/default.nix
index 3be824d9a404..85bd21f9b721 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/bfr/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/bfr/default.nix
@@ -9,6 +9,13 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     sha256 = "0fadfssvj9klj4dq9wdrzys1k2a1z2j0p6kgnfgbjv0n1bq6h4cy";
   };
 
+  patches =
+    [ (fetchurl {
+        url = "https://sources.gentoo.org/cgi-bin/viewvc.cgi/gentoo-x86/app-misc/bfr/files/bfr-1.6-perl.patch?revision=1.1";
+        sha256 = "1pk9jm3c1qzs727lh0bw61w3qbykaqg4jblywf9pvq5bypk88qfj";
+      })
+    ];
+
   buildInputs = [ perl ];
 
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index c340d5e02e3b..ee661fa2b55a 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -674,9 +674,7 @@ let
 
   bchunk = callPackage ../tools/cd-dvd/bchunk { };
 
-  bfr = callPackage ../tools/misc/bfr {
-    perl = perl516; # Docs fail to build with newer versions
-  };
+  bfr = callPackage ../tools/misc/bfr { };
 
   bibtool = callPackage ../tools/misc/bibtool { };