diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/nlopt/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/nlopt/default.nix
index 4e3db9b0d401..7561f3b322b5 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/nlopt/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/nlopt/default.nix
@@ -16,16 +16,12 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
         "M_INSTALL_DIR=$(out)/${octave.sitePath}/m " +
         "OCT_INSTALL_DIR=$(out)/${octave.sitePath}/oct ");
 
-  preConfigure = ''
-    find octave -name '*.cc' | xargs sed -i 's|Octave_map|octave_map|g'
-  '';
-
   meta = {
     homepage = "http://ab-initio.mit.edu/nlopt/";
     description = "Free open-source library for nonlinear optimization";
     license = stdenv.lib.licenses.lgpl21Plus;
     hydraPlatforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.linux;
-    broken = true;              # cannot cope with Octave 4.x
+    broken = (octave != null);              # cannot cope with Octave 4.x
   };
 
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 212647f37198..f2641e4e39d4 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -3106,7 +3106,7 @@ with pkgs;
 
   nkf = callPackage ../tools/text/nkf {};
 
-  nlopt = callPackage ../development/libraries/nlopt {};
+  nlopt = callPackage ../development/libraries/nlopt { octave = null; };
 
   npapi_sdk = callPackage ../development/libraries/npapi-sdk {};