diff --git a/pkgs/applications/misc/fbreader/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/misc/fbreader/default.nix
index 6fa34a008e77..548966764fe6 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/misc/fbreader/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/misc/fbreader/default.nix
@@ -1,38 +1,68 @@
-{ stdenv, fetchurl, pkgconfig, bzip2, curl, expat, fribidi
-, libunibreak, qt4, sqlite, zlib }:
+{ stdenv, fetchFromGitHub, pkgconfig
+, bzip2, curl, expat, fribidi, libunibreak, sqlite, zlib
+, uiTarget ? if !stdenv.isDarwin then "desktop" else "macosx"
+, uiType ? if !stdenv.isDarwin then "qt4" else "cocoa"
+, qt4, gtk2
+, AppKit, Cocoa
+}:
+
+with stdenv.lib;
+
+assert elem uiTarget [ "desktop" "macosx" ];
+assert elem uiType [ "qt4" "gtk" "cocoa" ];
+assert uiTarget == "macosx" -> uiType == "cocoa";
+
+# Note: "qt" uiType option mentioned in ${src}/README.build is qt3,
+# which is way to old and no longer in nixpkgs.
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation {
-  name = "fbreader-0.99.4";
+  name = "fbreader-${uiType}-0.99.6";
 
-  src = fetchurl {
-    url = https://fbreader.org/files/desktop/fbreader-sources-0.99.4.tgz;
-    sha256 = "1sdq3vvwkq4bkyrvh0p884d66gaddz8hlab3m798ji9ixbak2z1x";
+  src = fetchFromGitHub {
+    owner = "geometer";
+    repo = "FBReader";
+    rev = "9e608db14372ae580beae4976eec7241fa069e75";
+    sha256 = "0lzafk02mv0cf2l2a61q5y4743zi913byik4bw1ix0gr1drnsa7y";
   };
 
+  patches = [ ./typecheck.patch ];
+
+  postPatch = ''
+    cat << EOF > makefiles/target.mk
+    TARGET_ARCH = ${uiTarget}
+    TARGET_STATUS = release
+    UI_TYPE = ${uiType}
+    EOF
+
+    substituteInPlace makefiles/arch/desktop.mk \
+      --replace ccache "" \
+      --replace moc-qt4 moc
+
+    # libunibreak supersedes liblinebreak
+    substituteInPlace zlibrary/text/Makefile \
+      --replace -llinebreak -lunibreak
+  '';
+
   nativeBuildInputs = [ pkgconfig ];
+
   buildInputs = [
-    bzip2 curl expat fribidi libunibreak
-    qt4 sqlite zlib
-  ];
+    bzip2 curl expat fribidi libunibreak sqlite zlib
+  ]
+  ++ optional (uiType == "qt4") qt4
+  ++ optional (uiType == "gtk") gtk2
+  ++ optionals (uiType == "cocoa") [ AppKit Cocoa ];
 
   makeFlags = "INSTALLDIR=$(out)";
 
   NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE = [ "-Wno-error=narrowing" ]; # since gcc-6
 
-  patchPhase = ''
-    # don't try to use ccache
-    substituteInPlace makefiles/arch/desktop.mk \
-      --replace "CCACHE = " "# CCACHE = "
-
-    substituteInPlace fbreader/desktop/Makefile \
-      --replace "/usr/share" "$out/share"
-  '';
-
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
     description = "An e-book reader for Linux";
     homepage = http://www.fbreader.org/;
     license = licenses.gpl3;
-    platforms = platforms.linux; # possibly also on unix general
+    broken = stdenv.isDarwin  # untested, might work
+          || uiType == "gtk"; # builds, but the result is unusable, hangs a lot
+    platforms = platforms.unix;
     maintainers = [ maintainers.coroa ];
-  }; 
+  };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/misc/fbreader/typecheck.patch b/pkgs/applications/misc/fbreader/typecheck.patch
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..cbac290e69c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/applications/misc/fbreader/typecheck.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+diff --git a/fbreader/src/database/booksdb/BooksDB.cpp b/fbreader/src/database/booksdb/BooksDB.cpp
+index e33a22e76..1b6092800 100644
+--- a/fbreader/src/database/booksdb/BooksDB.cpp
++++ b/fbreader/src/database/booksdb/BooksDB.cpp
+@@ -146,5 +146,5 @@ shared_ptr<Book> BooksDB::loadBook(const std::string &fileName) {
+ 	myFindFileId->setFileName(fileName);
+ 	if (!myFindFileId->run()) {
+-		return false;
++		return 0;
+ 	}
+ 	((DBIntValue&)*myLoadBook->parameter("@file_id").value()) = myFindFileId->fileId();
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index c95926aa6bee..e09e89b0b90e 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -16269,7 +16269,9 @@ with pkgs;
 
   fbpanel = callPackage ../applications/window-managers/fbpanel { };
 
-  fbreader = callPackage ../applications/misc/fbreader { };
+  fbreader = callPackage ../applications/misc/fbreader {
+    inherit (darwin.apple_sdk.frameworks) AppKit Cocoa;
+  };
 
   fdr = libsForQt5.callPackage ../applications/science/programming/fdr { };