diff --git a/pkgs/desktops/gnome-3/core/totem/default.nix b/pkgs/desktops/gnome-3/core/totem/default.nix
index df37377e52e8..7cf1872da5a9 100644
--- a/pkgs/desktops/gnome-3/core/totem/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/desktops/gnome-3/core/totem/default.nix
@@ -34,6 +34,10 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   mesonFlags = [
     "-Dwith-nautilusdir=lib/nautilus/extensions-3.0"
+    # https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/totem/+bug/1712021
+    # https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=784236
+    # https://github.com/mesonbuild/meson/issues/1994
+    "-Denable-vala=no"
   ];
 
   wrapPrefixVariables = [ "PYTHONPATH" ];