diff --git a/pkgs/development/ocaml-modules/apron/default.nix b/pkgs/development/ocaml-modules/apron/default.nix
index bfef3d5b6c6..c74545caf24 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/ocaml-modules/apron/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/ocaml-modules/apron/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
-{ stdenv, lib, fetchFromGitHub, perl, gmp, mpfr, ppl, ocaml, findlib, camlidl, mlgmpidl }:
+{ stdenv, lib, fetchFromGitHub, perl, gmp, mpfr, ppl, ocaml, findlib, camlidl, mlgmpidl
+, gnumake42
+}:
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   pname = "ocaml${ocaml.version}-apron";
@@ -10,7 +12,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     sha256 = "14ymjahqdxj26da8wik9d5dzlxn81b3z1iggdl7rn2nn06jy7lvy";
   };
 
-  nativeBuildInputs = [ ocaml findlib perl ];
+  # fails with make 4.4
+  nativeBuildInputs = [ ocaml findlib perl gnumake42 ];
   buildInputs = [ gmp mpfr ppl camlidl ];
   propagatedBuildInputs = [ mlgmpidl ];