diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/libao/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/libao/default.nix
index 264c51ef4797..856980f10253 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/libao/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/libao/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-{ stdenv, fetchurl, pkgconfig, pulseaudio }:
+{ stdenv, fetchurl, pkgconfig, pulseaudio
+, usePulseAudio }:
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation {
   name = "libao-0.8.8";
@@ -7,7 +8,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
     sha256 = "e52e05af6b10f42d2ee9845df1a581bf2b352060eabf7946aee0a600c3878954";
   };
 
-  buildInputs = [ pkgconfig pulseaudio ];
+  buildInputs = [ pkgconfig ] ++ stdenv.lib.optional usePulseAudio pulseaudio;
 
   meta = {
     longDescription = ''
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 1bc3b90cae3b..afd89ec48835 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -4059,6 +4059,7 @@ let
 
   libao = import ../development/libraries/libao {
     inherit stdenv fetchurl pkgconfig pulseaudio;
+    usePulseAudio = getConfig [ "pulseaudio" ] true;
   };
 
   libarchive = import ../development/libraries/libarchive {