diff --git a/pkgs/development/r-modules/default.nix b/pkgs/development/r-modules/default.nix
index d22d5bebc427..e81ce35977e1 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/r-modules/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/r-modules/default.nix
@@ -369,7 +369,7 @@ let
     VBmix = [ pkgs.gsl_1 pkgs.fftw pkgs.qt4 ];
     WhopGenome = [ pkgs.zlib.dev ];
     XBRL = [ pkgs.zlib pkgs.libxml2.dev ];
-    xml2 = [ pkgs.libxml2.dev ];
+    xml2 = [ pkgs.libxml2.dev ] ++ lib.optionals stdenv.isDarwin [ pkgs.perl ];
     XML = [ pkgs.libtool pkgs.libxml2.dev pkgs.xmlsec pkgs.libxslt ];
     affyPLM = [ pkgs.zlib.dev ];
     bamsignals = [ pkgs.zlib.dev ];