diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/pcre/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/pcre/default.nix
index 52a4ba32315ee..080256ee440cc 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/pcre/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/pcre/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ lib, stdenv, fetchurl, fetchpatch
+{ lib, stdenv, fetchurl, fetchpatch, updateAutotoolsGnuConfigScriptsHook
 , pcre, windows ? null
 , variant ? null
 }:
@@ -37,6 +37,10 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     })
   ];
 
+  # necessary to build on FreeBSD native pending inclusion of
+  # https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/config.git/commit/?id=e4786449e1c26716e3f9ea182caf472e4dbc96e0
+  nativeBuildInputs = [ updateAutotoolsGnuConfigScriptsHook ];
+
   preCheck = ''
     patchShebangs RunGrepTest
   '';