diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/matplotlib/2.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/matplotlib/2.nix
index f073e7baa4ed..7626959b4728 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/matplotlib/2.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/matplotlib/2.nix
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@
 , enableGhostscript ? false, ghostscript ? null, gtk3
 , enableGtk2 ? false, pygtk ? null, gobjectIntrospection
 , enableGtk3 ? false, cairo
-, enableTk ? false, tcl ? null, tk ? null, tkinter ? null, libX11 ? null
+# darwin has its own "MacOSX" backend
+, enableTk ? !stdenv.isDarwin, tcl ? null, tk ? null, tkinter ? null, libX11 ? null
 , enableQt ? false, pyqt4
 , libcxx
 , Cocoa
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/matplotlib/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/matplotlib/default.nix
index 2cd7557bac7c..1251fabf7aab 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/matplotlib/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/matplotlib/default.nix
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@
 , enableGhostscript ? true, ghostscript ? null, gtk3
 , enableGtk2 ? false, pygtk ? null, gobjectIntrospection
 , enableGtk3 ? false, cairo
-, enableTk ? false, tcl ? null, tk ? null, tkinter ? null, libX11 ? null
+# darwin has its own "MacOSX" backend
+, enableTk ? !stdenv.isDarwin, tcl ? null, tk ? null, tkinter ? null, libX11 ? null
 , enableQt ? false, pyqt4
 , libcxx
 , Cocoa