diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/mandoc/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/mandoc/default.nix
index 292a28bf313..dc564776d89 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/mandoc/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/mandoc/default.nix
@@ -1,16 +1,6 @@
 { lib, stdenv, fetchurl, zlib, perl, nixosTests }:
 
 let
-  # check if we can execute binaries for the host platform on the build platform
-  # even though the platforms aren't the same. mandoc can't be cross compiled
-  # (easily) because of its configurePhase, but we want to allow “native” cross
-  # such as pkgsLLVM and pkgsStatic.
-  # For a lack of a better predicate at the moment, we compare the platforms'
-  # system tuples. See also:
-  # * https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/140271
-  # * https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/61414
-  executableCross = stdenv.buildPlatform.system == stdenv.hostPlatform.system;
-
   # Name of an UTF-8 locale _always_ present at runtime, used for UTF-8 support
   # (locale set by the user may differ). This would usually be C.UTF-8, but
   # darwin has no such locale.
@@ -20,9 +10,6 @@ let
     else "C.UTF-8";
 in
 
-assert executableCross ||
-  throw "mandoc relies on executing compiled programs in configurePhase, can't cross compile";
-
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   pname = "mandoc";
   version = "1.14.6";
@@ -61,7 +48,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     printf '%s' "$configureLocal" > configure.local
   '';
 
-  doCheck = executableCross;
+  doCheck = true;
   checkTarget = "regress";
   checkInputs = [ perl ];
   preCheck = "patchShebangs --build regress/regress.pl";
@@ -71,6 +58,19 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   };
 
   meta = with lib; {
+    # check if we can execute binaries for the host platform on the build platform
+    # even though the platforms aren't the same. mandoc can't be cross compiled
+    # (easily) because of its configurePhase which executes compiled programs
+    # for gathering information about the host system. Consequently, we can only
+    # allow “native” cross such as pkgsLLVM and pkgsStatic.
+    # For a lack of a better predicate at the moment, we compare the platforms'
+    # system tuples. See also:
+    # * https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/140271
+    # * https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/61414
+    # We need to use broken instead of, say a top level assert, to keep splicing
+    # working.
+    broken = stdenv.buildPlatform.system != stdenv.hostPlatform.system;
+
     homepage = "https://mandoc.bsd.lv/";
     description = "suite of tools compiling mdoc and man";
     downloadPage = "http://mandoc.bsd.lv/snapshots/";