diff --git a/pkgs/applications/science/math/mathematica/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/science/math/mathematica/default.nix
index ace5ee55d7b1..d04a89bd8842 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/science/math/mathematica/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/science/math/mathematica/default.nix
@@ -144,6 +144,9 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   '';
 
   dontBuild = true;
+  
+  # This is primarily an IO bound build; there's little benefit to building remotely.
+  preferLocalBuild = true;
 
   # all binaries are already stripped
   dontStrip = true;