diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-5/5.5/qtbase/compose-search-path.patch b/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-5/5.5/qtbase/compose-search-path.patch
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..08d12087f080
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-5/5.5/qtbase/compose-search-path.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+Index: qt-everywhere-opensource-src-5.5.1/qtbase/src/plugins/platforminputcontexts/compose/generator/qtablegenerator.cpp
+===================================================================
+--- qt-everywhere-opensource-src-5.5.1.orig/qtbase/src/plugins/platforminputcontexts/compose/generator/qtablegenerator.cpp
++++ qt-everywhere-opensource-src-5.5.1/qtbase/src/plugins/platforminputcontexts/compose/generator/qtablegenerator.cpp
+@@ -68,10 +68,7 @@ void TableGenerator::initPossibleLocatio
+     // the QTCOMPOSE environment variable
+     if (qEnvironmentVariableIsSet("QTCOMPOSE"))
+         m_possibleLocations.append(QString::fromLocal8Bit(qgetenv("QTCOMPOSE")));
+-    m_possibleLocations.append(QStringLiteral("/usr/share/X11/locale"));
+-    m_possibleLocations.append(QStringLiteral("/usr/local/share/X11/locale"));
+-    m_possibleLocations.append(QStringLiteral("/usr/lib/X11/locale"));
+-    m_possibleLocations.append(QStringLiteral("/usr/local/lib/X11/locale"));
++    m_possibleLocations.append(QStringLiteral("${libX11}/share/X11/locale"));
+     m_possibleLocations.append(QStringLiteral(X11_PREFIX "/share/X11/locale"));
+     m_possibleLocations.append(QStringLiteral(X11_PREFIX "/lib/X11/locale"));
+ }
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-5/5.5/qtbase/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-5/5.5/qtbase/default.nix
index a39d9996b1dd..0cb063010460 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-5/5.5/qtbase/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-5/5.5/qtbase/default.nix
@@ -53,9 +53,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
     substituteInPlace configure --replace /bin/pwd pwd
     substituteInPlace qtbase/configure --replace /bin/pwd pwd
     substituteInPlace qtbase/src/corelib/global/global.pri --replace /bin/ls ${coreutils}/bin/ls
-    substituteInPlace qtbase/src/plugins/platforminputcontexts/compose/generator/qtablegenerator.cpp \
-        --replace /usr/share/X11/locale ${libX11}/share/X11/locale \
-        --replace /usr/lib/X11/locale ${libX11}/share/X11/locale
     sed -e 's@/\(usr\|opt\)/@/var/empty/@g' -i config.tests/*/*.test -i qtbase/mkspecs/*/*.conf
 
     sed -i 's/PATHS.*NO_DEFAULT_PATH//' "qtbase/src/corelib/Qt5Config.cmake.in"
@@ -77,6 +74,10 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
     substituteInPlace qtbase/src/dbus/qdbus_symbols.cpp \
       --replace "@dbus_libs@" "${dbus}"
 
+    substituteInPlace \
+      qtbase/src/plugins/platforminputcontexts/compose/generator/qtablegenerator.cpp \
+      --replace "@libX11@" "${libX11}"
+
     if [[ -n "$gtkStyle" ]]; then
       substituteInPlace qtbase/src/widgets/styles/qgtk2painter.cpp --replace "@gtk@" "${gtk}"
       substituteInPlace qtbase/src/widgets/styles/qgtkstyle_p.cpp \
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-5/5.5/qtbase/series b/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-5/5.5/qtbase/series
index d4b356a29189..3cfa50e85b70 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-5/5.5/qtbase/series
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-5/5.5/qtbase/series
@@ -5,3 +5,4 @@ dlopen-openssl.patch
 dlopen-dbus.patch
 xdg-config-dirs.patch
 nix-profiles-library-paths.patch
+compose-search-path.patch