diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/cairo/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/cairo/default.nix
index 38dfceb2e004..0151bac402cd 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/cairo/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/cairo/default.nix
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 { config, stdenv, fetchurl, fetchpatch, pkgconfig, libiconv
-, libintl, expat, zlib, libpng, pixman, fontconfig, freetype, xorg
+, libintl, expat, zlib, libpng, pixman, fontconfig, freetype
+, x11Support? !stdenv.isDarwin, libXext, libXrender
 , gobjectSupport ? true, glib
-, xcbSupport ? true # no longer experimental since 1.12
+, xcbSupport ? x11Support, libxcb, xcbutil # no longer experimental since 1.12
 , libGLSupported
 , glSupport ? config.cairo.gl or (libGLSupported && stdenv.isLinux && !stdenv.isAarch32 && !stdenv.isMips)
 , libGL ? null # libGLU_combined is no longer a big dependency
@@ -52,8 +53,8 @@ in stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     Carbon
   ]);
 
-  propagatedBuildInputs =
-    with xorg; [ libXext fontconfig expat freetype pixman zlib libpng libXrender ]
+  propagatedBuildInputs = [ fontconfig expat freetype pixman zlib libpng ]
+    ++ optionals x11Support [ libXext libXrender ]
     ++ optionals xcbSupport [ libxcb xcbutil ]
     ++ optional gobjectSupport glib
     ++ optional glSupport libGL