diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/libsolv/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/libsolv/default.nix
index 2d5fa20c7cf8..9db56aa3a9ec 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/libsolv/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/libsolv/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ stdenv, fetchFromGitHub, cmake, zlib, expat, rpm, db }:
+{ stdenv, fetchFromGitHub, cmake, ninja, zlib, expat, rpm, db }:
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   rev  = "0.6.34";
@@ -11,9 +11,16 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     sha256 = "1knr48dilg8kscbmpjvd7m2krvgcdq0f9vpbqcgmxxa969mzrcy7";
   };
 
-  cmakeFlags = "-DENABLE_RPMMD=true -DENABLE_RPMDB=true -DENABLE_PUBKEY=true -DENABLE_RPMDB_BYRPMHEADER=true";
+  cmakeFlags = [
+    "-DENABLE_COMPLEX_DEPS=true"
+    "-DENABLE_RPMMD=true"
+    "-DENABLE_RPMDB=true"
+    "-DENABLE_PUBKEY=true"
+    "-DENABLE_RPMDB_BYRPMHEADER=true"
+  ];
 
-  buildInputs = [ cmake zlib expat rpm db ];
+  nativeBuildInputs = [ cmake ninja ];
+  buildInputs = [ zlib expat rpm db ];
 
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
     description = "A free package dependency solver";