diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/libunistring/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/libunistring/default.nix
index 590ad64cb40f..9bc3cb7f9012 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/libunistring/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/libunistring/default.nix
@@ -9,7 +9,10 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (rec {
   };
 
   propagatedBuildInputs =
-    stdenv.lib.optional (! (stdenv ? glibc)) libiconv;
+    stdenv.lib.optional ((! (stdenv ? glibc))
+                         || (stdenv ? cross &&
+                             stdenv.cross.config == "i686-pc-mingw32"))
+     libiconv;
 
   # XXX: There are test failures on non-GNU systems, see
   # http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-libunistring/2010-02/msg00004.html .