diff --git a/pkgs/applications/misc/gmtp/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/misc/gmtp/default.nix
index 5f03b8ea7e7..9aeed0a7f57 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/misc/gmtp/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/misc/gmtp/default.nix
@@ -18,6 +18,12 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
 
   enableParallelBuilding = true;
 
+  # Workaround build failure on -fno-common toolchains:
+  #   ld: gmtp-preferences.o:src/main.h:72: multiple definition of
+  #     `scrolledwindowMain'; gmtp-about.o:src/main.h:72: first defined here
+  # TODO: can be removed when 1.4.0 is released.
+  #NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE = "-fcommon";
+
   preFixup = ''
     gappsWrapperArgs+=(--add-flags "--datapath $out/share");
   '';