diff --git a/pkgs/tools/graphics/mesa-demos/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/graphics/mesa-demos/default.nix
index 14b7a038a130..550b06d0f0e2 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/graphics/mesa-demos/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/graphics/mesa-demos/default.nix
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   buildInputs = [ freeglut glew libX11 libXext libGL libGLU mesa mesa.osmesa wayland ];
   nativeBuildInputs = [ pkg-config ];
 
+  configureFlags = [ "--with-system-data-files" ];
   enableParallelBuilding = true;
 
   meta = with lib; {