diff --git a/pkgs/development/octave-modules/database/c_verror.patch b/pkgs/development/octave-modules/database/c_verror.patch
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9726a29512e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/octave-modules/database/c_verror.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+--- a/src/error-helpers.h
++++ b/src/error-helpers.h
+@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@
+       } \
+     catch (OCTAVE__EXECUTION_EXCEPTION& e) \
+       { \
+-        verror (e, __VA_ARGS__); \
++        c_verror (e, __VA_ARGS__); \
+       }
+ #endif
+ 
diff --git a/pkgs/development/octave-modules/database/default.nix b/pkgs/development/octave-modules/database/default.nix
index 3e1fe863276..811278af502 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/octave-modules/database/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/octave-modules/database/default.nix
@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@ buildOctavePackage rec {
     url = "mirror://sourceforge/octave/${pname}-${version}.tar.gz";
     sha256 = "1c0n76adi0jw6bx62s04vjyda6kb6ca8lzz2vam43vdy10prcq9p";
   };
+  patches = [
+    # Fix for octave 8.x
+    ./c_verror.patch
+  ];
 
   propagatedBuildInputs = [
     postgresql