diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/melpa-packages.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/melpa-packages.nix
index b95a944e612b..7c1531684968 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/melpa-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/melpa-packages.nix
@@ -89,6 +89,12 @@ self:
       # Expects bash to be at /bin/bash
       flycheck-rtags = markBroken super.flycheck-rtags;
 
+      forge = super.forge.overrideAttrs (attrs: {
+        # searches for Git at build time
+        nativeBuildInputs =
+          (attrs.nativeBuildInputs or []) ++ [ external.git ];
+      });
+
       # build timeout
       graphene = markBroken super.graphene;