diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/google-cloud-cpp/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/google-cloud-cpp/default.nix
index cec2312d2dd2..870e919357e0 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/google-cloud-cpp/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/google-cloud-cpp/default.nix
@@ -48,6 +48,10 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     ninja
     pkg-config
   ] ++ lib.optionals (!doInstallCheck) [
+    # enable these dependencies when doInstallCheck failse because we're
+    # unconditionally building tests and benchmarks
+    #
+    # when doInstallCheck is true, these deps are added to installCheckInputs
     gbenchmark
     gtest
   ];