diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/libevent/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/libevent/default.nix
index a2a8403b4983..bb854139b794 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/libevent/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/libevent/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{stdenv, fetchurl}:
+{ stdenv, fetchurl, python }:
 
 let version = "2.0.21"; in
 stdenv.mkDerivation {
@@ -9,6 +9,11 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
     sha256 = "1xblymln9vihdmf1aqkp8chwvnhpdch3786bh30bj75slnl31992";
   };
 
+  patchPhase = ''
+    substituteInPlace event_rpcgen.py \
+      --replace "/usr/bin/env python2" "${python}/bin/python"
+  '';
+
   meta = {
     description = "libevent, an event notification library";