diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/dbus/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/dbus/default.nix
index b569fc187e28..7dbc76456fdb 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/dbus/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/dbus/default.nix
@@ -53,7 +53,8 @@ self =  stdenv.mkDerivation {
 
     # Enable X11 autolaunch support in libdbus. This doesn't actually depend on X11
     # (it just execs dbus-launch in dbus.tools), contrary to what the configure script demands.
-    NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE = "-DDBUS_ENABLE_X11_AUTOLAUNCH=1";
+    # problems building without x11Support so disabled in that case for now
+    NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE = lib.optionalString x11Support "-DDBUS_ENABLE_X11_AUTOLAUNCH=1";
     NIX_CFLAGS_LINK = lib.optionalString (!stdenv.isDarwin) "-Wl,--as-needed";
 
     enableParallelBuilding = true;