diff --git a/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/gurk-rs/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/gurk-rs/default.nix
index b2971f00f00c..352fa1a511cd 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/gurk-rs/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/gurk-rs/default.nix
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 , rustPlatform
 , fetchFromGitHub
 , Cocoa
+, pkgsBuildHost
 }:
 
 rustPlatform.buildRustPackage rec {
@@ -38,7 +39,7 @@ rustPlatform.buildRustPackage rec {
 
   NIX_LDFLAGS = lib.optionals (stdenv.isDarwin && stdenv.isx86_64) [ "-framework" "AppKit" ];
 
-  PROTOC = "${protobuf}/bin/protoc";
+  PROTOC = "${pkgsBuildHost.protobuf}/bin/protoc";
 
   meta = with lib; {
     description = "Signal Messenger client for terminal";