diff --git a/pkgs/desktops/mate/mate-themes/default.nix b/pkgs/desktops/mate/mate-themes/default.nix
index 3967a8c9ca2b..a80c54803d80 100644
--- a/pkgs/desktops/mate/mate-themes/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/desktops/mate/mate-themes/default.nix
@@ -21,8 +21,9 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [ pkgconfig intltool ];
 
-  buildInputs = [ mate.mate-icon-theme gtk2 gtk_engines gtk-engine-murrine
-    gdk_pixbuf librsvg ];
+  buildInputs = [ mate.mate-icon-theme gtk2 gtk_engines gdk_pixbuf librsvg ];
+
+  propagatedUserEnvPkgs = [ gtk-engine-murrine ];
 
   meta = {
     description = "A set of themes from MATE";
diff --git a/pkgs/misc/themes/adapta/default.nix b/pkgs/misc/themes/adapta/default.nix
index 9a4ec9f49f68..ade47704bae3 100644
--- a/pkgs/misc/themes/adapta/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/misc/themes/adapta/default.nix
@@ -27,9 +27,10 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   buildInputs = [
     gdk_pixbuf
     librsvg
-    gtk-engine-murrine
   ];
 
+  propagatedUserEnvPkgs = [ gtk-engine-murrine ];
+
   postPatch = "patchShebangs .";
 
   configureFlags = [
diff --git a/pkgs/misc/themes/arc/default.nix b/pkgs/misc/themes/arc/default.nix
index 2106b816e07b..b9c0d0d4436f 100644
--- a/pkgs/misc/themes/arc/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/misc/themes/arc/default.nix
@@ -4,8 +4,9 @@ let
   # treat versions newer than 3.22 as 3.22
   gnomeVersion = if stdenv.lib.versionOlder "3.22" gnome3.version then "3.22" else gnome3.version;
   pname = "arc-theme";
+in
 
-in stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
+stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   name = "${pname}-${version}";
   version = "2017-05-12";
 
@@ -17,8 +18,9 @@ in stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   };
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [ autoreconfHook pkgconfig ];
+  buildInputs = [ gnome3.gtk ];
 
-  buildInputs = [ gtk-engine-murrine gnome3.gtk ];
+  propagatedUserEnvPkgs = [ gtk-engine-murrine ];
 
   preferLocalBuild = true;
 
diff --git a/pkgs/misc/themes/blackbird/default.nix b/pkgs/misc/themes/blackbird/default.nix
index dbc0beb1872b..5eead87b1c7b 100644
--- a/pkgs/misc/themes/blackbird/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/misc/themes/blackbird/default.nix
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [ autoreconfHook ];
 
-  buildInputs = [ gtk-engine-murrine ];
+  propagatedUserEnvPkgs = [ gtk-engine-murrine ];
 
   meta = {
     description = "Dark Desktop Suite for Gtk, Xfce and Metacity";
diff --git a/pkgs/misc/themes/deepin/default.nix b/pkgs/misc/themes/deepin/default.nix
index d8a3ecaa4119..670a02c85d98 100644
--- a/pkgs/misc/themes/deepin/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/misc/themes/deepin/default.nix
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     sha256 = "1hb0y72fzmcj2yl6q7mbc0c7yxkd1qgnyw4vixdqxnxk2c82sxzw";
   };
 
-  buildInputs = [ gtk-engine-murrine ];
+  propagatedUserEnvPkgs = [ gtk-engine-murrine ];
 
   makeFlags = [ "PREFIX=$(out)" ];
 
diff --git a/pkgs/misc/themes/greybird/default.nix b/pkgs/misc/themes/greybird/default.nix
index 5800bd5c0459..c1de0856dcea 100644
--- a/pkgs/misc/themes/greybird/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/misc/themes/greybird/default.nix
@@ -14,8 +14,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [ autoreconfHook sass glib libxml2 gdk_pixbuf librsvg ];
 
-  buildInputs = [ gtk-engine-murrine ];
-  
+  propagatedUserEnvPkgs = [ gtk-engine-murrine ];
+
   meta = {
     description = "Grey and blue theme (Gtk, Xfce, Emerald, Metacity, Mutter, Unity)";
     homepage = https://github.com/shimmerproject/Greybird;
diff --git a/pkgs/misc/themes/materia-theme/default.nix b/pkgs/misc/themes/materia-theme/default.nix
index e66b7767c6ec..d6228eb4b1f0 100644
--- a/pkgs/misc/themes/materia-theme/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/misc/themes/materia-theme/default.nix
@@ -13,7 +13,9 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [ gnome3.glib libxml2 ];
 
-  buildInputs = [ gnome3.gnome_themes_standard gtk-engine-murrine gdk_pixbuf librsvg ];
+  buildInputs = [ gnome3.gnome_themes_standard gdk_pixbuf librsvg ];
+
+  propagatedUserEnvPkgs = [ gtk-engine-murrine ];
 
   dontBuild = true;
 
diff --git a/pkgs/misc/themes/numix-sx/default.nix b/pkgs/misc/themes/numix-sx/default.nix
index a56f67b8df45..9001ad9e5a3a 100644
--- a/pkgs/misc/themes/numix-sx/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/misc/themes/numix-sx/default.nix
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     sha256 = "7e1983924b2d90e89eddb3da8f4c43dc1326fe138fd191c8212c7904dcd618b0";
   };
 
-  buildInputs = [ gtk-engine-murrine ];
+  propagatedUserEnvPkgs = [ gtk-engine-murrine ];
 
   dontBuild = true;
 
diff --git a/pkgs/misc/themes/numix/default.nix b/pkgs/misc/themes/numix/default.nix
index e21faf8b805c..f7b5f3d91af4 100644
--- a/pkgs/misc/themes/numix/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/misc/themes/numix/default.nix
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [ sass glib libxml2 gdk_pixbuf ];
 
-  buildInputs = [ gtk-engine-murrine ];
+  propagatedUserEnvPkgs = [ gtk-engine-murrine ];
 
   postPatch = ''
     substituteInPlace Makefile --replace '$(DESTDIR)'/usr $out
diff --git a/pkgs/misc/themes/vertex/default.nix b/pkgs/misc/themes/vertex/default.nix
index 9c41d8386592..86a6b4883acf 100644
--- a/pkgs/misc/themes/vertex/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/misc/themes/vertex/default.nix
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [ autoreconfHook pkgconfig ];
 
-  buildInputs = [ gtk-engine-murrine ];
+  propagatedUserEnvPkgs = [ gtk-engine-murrine ];
 
   configureFlags = [ "--disable-unity" ];
 
diff --git a/pkgs/misc/themes/zuki/default.nix b/pkgs/misc/themes/zuki/default.nix
index 3d0de843a91b..00743a345c93 100644
--- a/pkgs/misc/themes/zuki/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/misc/themes/zuki/default.nix
@@ -11,7 +11,9 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     sha256 = "1js92qq1zi3iq40nl6n0m52hhhn9ql9i7y8ycg8vw3w0v8xyb4km";
   };
 
-  buildInputs = [ gdk_pixbuf gtk_engines gtk-engine-murrine ];
+  buildInputs = [ gdk_pixbuf gtk_engines ];
+
+  propagatedUserEnvPkgs = [ gtk-engine-murrine ];
 
   dontBuild = true;