diff --git a/pkgs/applications/misc/xterm/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/misc/xterm/default.nix
index 9cd677f5d8d5..adc0c3c9fb63 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/misc/xterm/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/misc/xterm/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
-{ stdenv, fetchurl, xorg, ncurses, freetype, fontconfig, pkgconfig }:
+{ stdenv, fetchurl, xorg, ncurses, freetype, fontconfig, pkgconfig
+, enableDecLocator ? true
+}:
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   name = "xterm-325";
@@ -27,9 +29,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     "--enable-doublechars"
     "--enable-luit"
     "--enable-mini-luit"
-    "--enable-dec-locator"
     "--with-tty-group=tty"
-  ];
+  ] ++ stdenv.lib.optional enableDecLocator "--enable-dec-locator";
 
   # Work around broken "plink.sh".
   NIX_LDFLAGS = "-lXmu -lXt -lICE -lX11 -lfontconfig";