diff --git a/pkgs/development/ocaml-modules/cmdliner/1_1.nix b/pkgs/development/ocaml-modules/cmdliner/1_1.nix
index 001d967fca1..9e7f6db6e69 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/ocaml-modules/cmdliner/1_1.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/ocaml-modules/cmdliner/1_1.nix
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 { lib, stdenv, fetchurl, ocaml, findlib, ocamlbuild, topkg, result }:
 
+lib.throwIfNot (lib.versionAtLeast ocaml.version "4.08")
+  "cmdliner 1.1 is not available for OCaml ${ocaml.version}"
+
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   pname = "cmdliner";
   version = "1.1.1";
@@ -9,7 +12,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     sha256 = "sha256-oa6Hw6eZQO+NHdWfdED3dtHckm4BmEbdMiAuRkYntfs=";
   };
 
-  minimalOCamlVersion = "4.08";
   nativeBuildInputs = [ ocaml ];
 
   makeFlags = [ "PREFIX=$(out)" ];