diff --git a/pkgs/applications/misc/ola/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/misc/ola/default.nix
index 62d14957a42..14055463fa3 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/misc/ola/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/misc/ola/default.nix
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 , bison
 , flex
 , pkg-config
+, libftdi1
 , libuuid
 , cppunit
 , protobuf
@@ -26,7 +27,17 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   };
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [ autoreconfHook bison flex pkg-config perl ];
-  buildInputs = [ libuuid cppunit protobuf zlib avahi libmicrohttpd python3 ];
+  buildInputs = [
+    # required for ola-ftdidmx plugin (support for 'dumb' FTDI devices)
+    libftdi1
+    libuuid
+    cppunit
+    protobuf
+    zlib
+    avahi
+    libmicrohttpd
+    python3
+  ];
   propagatedBuildInputs = [
     python3.pkgs.protobuf
     python3.pkgs.numpy