diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/meson/default.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/meson/default.nix
index 3809d19e7d0c..0eae4215d46a 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/meson/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/meson/default.nix
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 , stdenv
 , writeTextDir
 , substituteAll
+, pkgsHostHost
 }:
 
 python3Packages.buildPythonApplication rec {
@@ -58,6 +59,10 @@ python3Packages.buildPythonApplication rec {
 
   setupHook = ./setup-hook.sh;
 
+  # Ensure there will always be a native C compiler when meson is used, as a
+  # workaround until https://github.com/mesonbuild/meson/pull/6512 lands.
+  depsHostHostPropagated = [ pkgsHostHost.stdenv.cc ];
+
   # 0.45 update enabled tests but they are failing
   doCheck = false;
   # checkInputs = [ ninja pkgconfig ];