diff --git a/pkgs/tools/filesystems/nilfs-utils/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/filesystems/nilfs-utils/default.nix
index eccd72ceb238..ea321200fb98 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/filesystems/nilfs-utils/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/filesystems/nilfs-utils/default.nix
@@ -35,7 +35,13 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     })
   ];
 
-  configureFlags = [ "--with-libmount" ];
+  configureFlags = [
+    "--with-libmount"
+  ] ++ stdenv.lib.optionals (stdenv.hostPlatform != stdenv.buildPlatform) [
+    # AC_FUNC_MALLOC is broken on cross builds.
+    "ac_cv_func_malloc_0_nonnull=yes"
+    "ac_cv_func_realloc_0_nonnull=yes"
+  ];
 
   # FIXME: https://github.com/NixOS/patchelf/pull/98 is in, but stdenv
   # still doesn't use it