diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/documentation/gtk-doc/respect-xml-catalog-files-var.patch b/pkgs/development/tools/documentation/gtk-doc/respect-xml-catalog-files-var.patch
index 78c57306b797..95f6879a0069 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/documentation/gtk-doc/respect-xml-catalog-files-var.patch
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/documentation/gtk-doc/respect-xml-catalog-files-var.patch
@@ -1,28 +1,13 @@
-diff --git a/m4/gtkdoc_jh_check_xml_catalog.m4 b/m4/gtkdoc_jh_check_xml_catalog.m4
-index 618c1c9..1842a0d 100644
 --- a/m4/gtkdoc_jh_check_xml_catalog.m4
 +++ b/m4/gtkdoc_jh_check_xml_catalog.m4
-@@ -10,7 +10,21 @@ AC_DEFUN([JH_CHECK_XML_CATALOG],
+@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@
+ [
+ 	AC_REQUIRE([JH_PATH_XML_CATALOG],[JH_PATH_XML_CATALOG(,[:])])dnl
+ 	AC_MSG_CHECKING([for ifelse([$2],,[$1],[$2]) in XML catalog])
+-	if $jh_found_xmlcatalog && \
+-		AC_RUN_LOG([$XMLCATALOG --noout "$XML_CATALOG_FILE" "$1" >&2]); then
++	# empty argument forces libxml to use XML_CATALOG_FILES variable
++	if AC_RUN_LOG([$XMLCATALOG --noout "" "$1" >&2]); then
  		AC_MSG_RESULT([found])
  		ifelse([$3],,,[$3])
  	else
--		AC_MSG_RESULT([not found])
--		ifelse([$4],,[AC_MSG_ERROR([could not find ifelse([$2],,[$1],[$2]) in XML catalog])],[$4])
-+		jh_check_xml_catalog_saved_ifs="$IFS"
-+		IFS=' '
-+		for f in $XML_CATALOG_FILES; do
-+			if [[ -f "$f" ]] && \
-+				AC_RUN_LOG([$XMLCATALOG --noout "$f" "$1" >&2]); then
-+				jh_found_xmlcatalog=true
-+				AC_MSG_RESULT([found])
-+				ifelse([$3],,,[$3])
-+				break
-+			fi
-+		done
-+		IFS="$jh_check_xml_catalog_saved_ifs"
-+		if ! $jh_found_xmlcatalog; then
-+			AC_MSG_RESULT([not found])
-+			ifelse([$4],,[AC_MSG_ERROR([could not find ifelse([$2],,[$1],[$2]) in XML catalog])],[$4])
-+		fi
- 	fi
- ])