diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-23/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-23/default.nix
index a33dd29ce1bb..fac7abadcb44 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-23/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-23/default.nix
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@
 , xftSupport ? false
 , stdenv, fetchurl, ncurses, x11, libXaw ? null, libXpm ? null, Xaw3d ? null
 , pkgconfig ? null, gtk ? null, libXft ? null, dbus ? null
-, libpng, libjpeg, libungif, libtiff, texinfo
+, libpng, libjpeg, libungif, libtiff, librsvg, texinfo
+, gconf ? null
 }:
 
 assert xawSupport -> libXaw != null;
@@ -33,14 +34,14 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     (if xpmSupport then libXpm else null)
     (if dbusSupport then dbus else null)
     (if xaw3dSupport then Xaw3d else null)
-    libpng libjpeg libungif libtiff # maybe not strictly required?
+    libpng libjpeg libungif libtiff librsvg
   ]
   ++ (if gtkGUI then [pkgconfig gtk] else [])
-  ++ (if xftSupport then [libXft] else []);
+  ++ (if xftSupport then [libXft] else [])
+  ++ stdenv.lib.optional (gconf != null) gconf;
 
-  configureFlags = "
-    ${if gtkGUI then "--with-x-toolkit=gtk --enable-font-backend --with-xft" else ""}
-  ";
+  configureFlags =
+    stdenv.lib.optionals gtkGUI [ "--with-x-toolkit=gtk" "--with-xft" ];
 
   doCheck = true;
 
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index bf8e544519e9..2defc50c7041 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -7399,9 +7399,10 @@ let
 
   emacs23 = import ../applications/editors/emacs-23 {
     inherit fetchurl stdenv ncurses pkgconfig x11 Xaw3d
-      libpng libjpeg libungif libtiff texinfo dbus;
+      libpng libjpeg libungif libtiff librsvg texinfo dbus;
     inherit (xlibs) libXaw libXpm libXft;
     inherit (gtkLibs) gtk;
+    gconf = gnome.GConf;  # optional GConf support.
     xawSupport = stdenv.isDarwin || getPkgConfig "emacs" "xawSupport" false;
     xaw3dSupport = getPkgConfig "emacs" "xaw3dSupport" false;
     gtkGUI = getPkgConfig "emacs" "gtkSupport" true;