diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/gstreamer/bad/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/gstreamer/bad/default.nix
index 28bcbe9a74c4..152904a8e7a2 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/gstreamer/bad/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/gstreamer/bad/default.nix
@@ -123,9 +123,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   buildInputs = [
     gst-plugins-base
     orc
-    # gobject-introspection has to be in both nativeBuildInputs and
-    # buildInputs. The build tries to link against libgirepository-1.0.so
-    gobject-introspection
     json-glib
     ldacbt
     libass
@@ -294,8 +291,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     # `applemedia/videotexturecache.h` requires `gst/gl/gl.h`,
     # but its meson build system does not declare the dependency.
     "-Dapplemedia=disabled"
-  ] ++ lib.optionals (stdenv.buildPlatform != stdenv.hostPlatform) [
-    "-Dintrospection=disabled"
   ] ++ (if enableGplPlugins then [
     "-Dgpl=enabled"
   ] else [
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/gstreamer/base/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/gstreamer/base/default.nix
index 599e6586ea03..b0aed54d9b40 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/gstreamer/base/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/gstreamer/base/default.nix
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 , libvisual
 , tremor # provides 'virbisidec'
 , libGL
+, gobject-introspection
 , enableX11 ? stdenv.isLinux
 , libXv
 , libXext
@@ -36,8 +37,6 @@
 , enableCdparanoia ? (!stdenv.isDarwin)
 , cdparanoia
 , glib
-, withIntrospection ? stdenv.buildPlatform == stdenv.hostPlatform
-, gobject-introspection
 }:
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
@@ -52,6 +51,9 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   };
 
   strictDeps = true;
+  depsBuildBuild = [
+    pkg-config
+  ];
   nativeBuildInputs = [
     meson
     ninja
@@ -63,7 +65,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     gstreamer
     # docs
     # TODO add hotdoc here
-  ] ++ lib.optionals withIntrospection [
     gobject-introspection
   ] ++ lib.optional enableWayland wayland;
 
@@ -91,8 +92,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   ] ++ lib.optionals enableWayland [
     wayland
     wayland-protocols
-  ] ++ lib.optionals withIntrospection [
-    gobject-introspection
   ] ++ lib.optional enableCocoa Cocoa
     ++ lib.optional enableCdparanoia cdparanoia;
 
@@ -106,7 +105,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     "-Dgl-graphene=disabled" # not packaged in nixpkgs as of writing
     # See https://github.com/GStreamer/gst-plugins-base/blob/d64a4b7a69c3462851ff4dcfa97cc6f94cd64aef/meson_options.txt#L15 for a list of choices
     "-Dgl_winsys=${lib.concatStringsSep "," (lib.optional enableX11 "x11" ++ lib.optional enableWayland "wayland" ++ lib.optional enableCocoa "cocoa")}"
-    "-Dintrospection=${if withIntrospection then "enabled" else "disabled"}"
   ] ++ lib.optionals (stdenv.buildPlatform != stdenv.hostPlatform) [
     "-Dtests=disabled"
   ]
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/gstreamer/core/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/gstreamer/core/default.nix
index c5f836f26a46..d867a8f04d37 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/gstreamer/core/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/gstreamer/core/default.nix
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 , bash-completion
 , lib
 , CoreServices
-, withIntrospection ? stdenv.buildPlatform == stdenv.hostPlatform
 , gobject-introspection
 }:
 
@@ -38,6 +37,10 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     sha256 = "0cghi6n4nhdbajz3wqcgbh5xm94myvnqgsi9g2bz9n1s9904l2fy";
   };
 
+  depsBuildBuild = [
+    pkg-config
+  ];
+
   strictDeps = true;
   nativeBuildInputs = [
     meson
@@ -50,13 +53,12 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     makeWrapper
     glib
     bash-completion
+    gobject-introspection
 
     # documentation
     # TODO add hotdoc here
   ] ++ lib.optionals stdenv.isLinux [
     libcap # for setcap binary
-  ] ++ lib.optionals withIntrospection [
-    gobject-introspection
   ];
 
   buildInputs = [
@@ -65,8 +67,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     libcap
     libunwind
     elfutils
-  ] ++ lib.optionals withIntrospection [
-    gobject-introspection
   ] ++ lib.optionals stdenv.isDarwin [
     CoreServices
   ];
@@ -79,7 +79,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     "-Ddbghelp=disabled" # not needed as we already provide libunwind and libdw, and dbghelp is a fallback to those
     "-Dexamples=disabled" # requires many dependencies and probably not useful for our users
     "-Ddoc=disabled" # `hotdoc` not packaged in nixpkgs as of writing
-    "-Dintrospection=${if withIntrospection then "enabled" else "disabled"}"
   ] ++ lib.optionals stdenv.isDarwin [
     # darwin.libunwind doesn't have pkg-config definitions so meson doesn't detect it.
     "-Dlibunwind=disabled"
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/gstreamer/devtools/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/gstreamer/devtools/default.nix
index 31c25648cc70..3b39fa4439ac 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/gstreamer/devtools/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/gstreamer/devtools/default.nix
@@ -26,6 +26,10 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     # "devdoc" # disabled until `hotdoc` is packaged in nixpkgs
   ];
 
+  depsBuildBuild = [
+    pkg-config
+  ];
+
   nativeBuildInputs = [
     meson
     ninja
@@ -49,8 +53,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   mesonFlags = [
     "-Ddoc=disabled" # `hotdoc` not packaged in nixpkgs as of writing
-  ] ++ lib.optionals (stdenv.buildPlatform != stdenv.hostPlatform) [
-    "-Dintrospection=disabled"
   ];
 
   meta = with lib; {
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/gstreamer/ges/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/gstreamer/ges/default.nix
index 50acba29d67c..fa7ea35bcdfe 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/gstreamer/ges/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/gstreamer/ges/default.nix
@@ -55,8 +55,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   mesonFlags = [
     "-Ddoc=disabled" # `hotdoc` not packaged in nixpkgs as of writing
-  ] ++ lib.optionals (stdenv.buildPlatform != stdenv.hostPlatform) [
-    "-Dintrospection=disabled"
   ];
 
   postPatch = ''
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/gstreamer/rtsp-server/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/gstreamer/rtsp-server/default.nix
index 679560e8ee17..1a1b136b0ca2 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/gstreamer/rtsp-server/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/gstreamer/rtsp-server/default.nix
@@ -46,8 +46,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   mesonFlags = [
     "-Dexamples=disabled" # requires many dependencies and probably not useful for our users
     "-Ddoc=disabled" # `hotdoc` not packaged in nixpkgs as of writing
-  ] ++ lib.optionals (stdenv.buildPlatform != stdenv.hostPlatform) [
-    "-Dintrospection=disabled"
   ];
 
   postPatch = ''