diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/accelerate/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/accelerate/default.nix
index b685b5ff14ba..24ed871c4037 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/accelerate/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/accelerate/default.nix
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 , lib
 , buildPythonPackage
 , fetchFromGitHub
+, fetchpatch
 , pythonAtLeast
 , pythonOlder
 , pytestCheckHook
@@ -29,6 +30,15 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
     hash = "sha256-DKyFb+4DUMhVUwr+sgF2IaJS9pEj2o2shGYwExfffWg=";
   };
 
+  patches = [
+    # https://github.com/huggingface/accelerate/pull/2121
+    (fetchpatch {
+      name = "fix-import-error-without-torch_distributed.patch";
+      url = "https://github.com/huggingface/accelerate/commit/42048092eabd67a407ea513a62f2acde97079fbc.patch";
+      hash = "sha256-9lvnU6z5ZEFc5RVw2bP0cGVyrwAp/pxX4ZgnmCN7qH8=";
+    })
+  ];
+
   nativeBuildInputs = [ setuptools ];
 
   propagatedBuildInputs = [