diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/sublime/4/common.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/sublime/4/common.nix
index a0fade07b1c5..a7425863d898 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/sublime/4/common.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/sublime/4/common.nix
@@ -158,7 +158,12 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (rec {
     )
     + ''
       mkdir -p "$out/share/applications"
-      substitute "''$${primaryBinary}/${primaryBinary}.desktop" "$out/share/applications/${primaryBinary}.desktop" --replace "/opt/${primaryBinary}/${primaryBinary}" "${primaryBinary}"
+
+      substitute \
+        "''$${primaryBinary}/${primaryBinary}.desktop" \
+        "$out/share/applications/${primaryBinary}.desktop" \
+        --replace-fail "/opt/${primaryBinary}/${primaryBinary}" "${primaryBinary}"
+
       for directory in ''$${primaryBinary}/Icon/*; do
         size=$(basename $directory)
         mkdir -p "$out/share/icons/hicolor/$size/apps"
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/version-management/sublime-merge/common.nix b/pkgs/applications/version-management/sublime-merge/common.nix
index 4773af014ae4..39157edf809b 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/version-management/sublime-merge/common.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/version-management/sublime-merge/common.nix
@@ -161,7 +161,12 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (rec {
     )
     + ''
       mkdir -p "$out/share/applications"
-      substitute "''$${primaryBinary}/${primaryBinary}.desktop" "$out/share/applications/${primaryBinary}.desktop" --replace "/opt/${primaryBinary}/${primaryBinary}" "${primaryBinary}"
+
+      substitute \
+        "''$${primaryBinary}/${primaryBinary}.desktop" \
+        "$out/share/applications/${primaryBinary}.desktop" \
+        --replace-fail "/opt/${primaryBinary}/${primaryBinary}" "${primaryBinary}"
+
       for directory in ''$${primaryBinary}/Icon/*; do
         size=$(basename $directory)
         mkdir -p "$out/share/icons/hicolor/$size/apps"