diff --git a/pkgs/desktops/gnome-3/core/gnome-settings-daemon/default.nix b/pkgs/desktops/gnome-3/core/gnome-settings-daemon/default.nix
index 6929f821e379..b9f33ce73a8a 100644
--- a/pkgs/desktops/gnome-3/core/gnome-settings-daemon/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/desktops/gnome-3/core/gnome-settings-daemon/default.nix
@@ -95,6 +95,12 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     "-Dudev_dir=${placeholder "out"}/lib/udev"
   ];
 
+  NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE = [
+    # Default for release buildtype but passed manually because
+    # we're using plain
+    "-DG_DISABLE_CAST_CHECKS"
+  ];
+
   # So the polkit policy can reference /run/current-system/sw/bin/gnome-settings-daemon/gsd-backlight-helper
   postFixup = ''
     mkdir -p $out/bin/gnome-settings-daemon