diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/protobuf/generic.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/protobuf/generic.nix
index 692891bd5bf2..fc41187a931e 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/protobuf/generic.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/protobuf/generic.nix
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     rm -rf gtest
     cp -r ${gtest.source} gtest
     chmod -R a+w gtest
+  '' + stdenv.lib.optionalString stdenv.isDarwin ''
+    substituteInPlace src/google/protobuf/testing/googletest.cc \
+      --replace 'tmpnam(b)' '"'$TMPDIR'/foo"'
   '';
 
   buildInputs = [ autoreconfHook zlib ];
diff --git a/pkgs/servers/nosql/rethinkdb/default.nix b/pkgs/servers/nosql/rethinkdb/default.nix
index 55f77ce0b5dd..57b0e0abb767 100644
--- a/pkgs/servers/nosql/rethinkdb/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/servers/nosql/rethinkdb/default.nix
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 { stdenv, fetchurl, which, m4, python
-, protobuf, boost, zlib, curl, openssl, icu, jemalloc
+, protobuf, boost, zlib, curl, openssl, icu, jemalloc, libtool
 }:
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
@@ -11,17 +11,26 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     sha256 = "03w9fq3wcvwy04b3x6zb3hvwar7b9jfbpq77rmxdlgh5w64vvgwd";
   };
 
+  postPatch = stdenv.lib.optionalString stdenv.isDarwin ''
+    sed -i 's/raise.*No Xcode or CLT version detected.*/version = "7.0.0"/' external/v8_3.30.33.16/build/gyp/pylib/gyp/xcode_emulation.py
+
+    # very meta
+    substituteInPlace mk/support/pkg/re2.sh --replace "-i '''" "-i"
+  '';
+
   preConfigure = ''
     export ALLOW_WARNINGS=1
     patchShebangs .
   '';
 
-  configureFlags = [
+  configureFlags = stdenv.lib.optionals (!stdenv.isDarwin) [
     "--with-jemalloc"
     "--lib-path=${jemalloc}/lib"
   ];
 
-  buildInputs = [ protobuf boost zlib curl openssl icu jemalloc ];
+  buildInputs = [ protobuf boost zlib curl openssl icu ]
+    ++ stdenv.lib.optional (!stdenv.isDarwin) jemalloc
+    ++ stdenv.lib.optional stdenv.isDarwin libtool;
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [ which m4 python ];
 
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 3bc1100639e6..bfec472fca89 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -9272,7 +9272,9 @@ let
 
   restund = callPackage ../servers/restund {};
 
-  rethinkdb = callPackage ../servers/nosql/rethinkdb { };
+  rethinkdb = callPackage ../servers/nosql/rethinkdb {
+    libtool = darwin.cctools;
+  };
 
   rippled = callPackage ../servers/rippled {
     boost = boost159;