diff --git a/pkgs/tools/system/netdata/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/system/netdata/default.nix
index 30d9d6b4ef37..46932076177f 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/system/netdata/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/system/netdata/default.nix
@@ -16,11 +16,19 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec{
   # Allow UI to load when running as non-root
   patches = [ ./web_access.patch ];
 
-  preConfigure = ''
-    export ZLIB_CFLAGS=" "
-    export ZLIB_LIBS="-lz"
-    export UUID_CFLAGS=" "
-    export UUID_LIBS="-luuid"
+  # Build will fail trying to create /var/{cache,lib,log}/netdata without this
+  postPatch = ''
+   sed -i '/dist_.*_DATA = \.keep/d' src/Makefile.am
+  '';
+
+  configureFlags = [
+    "--localstatedir=/var"
+  ];
+
+  # App fails on runtime if the default config file is not detected
+  # The upstream installer does prepare an empty file too
+  postInstall = ''
+    touch $out/etc/netdata/netdata.conf
   '';
 
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {