diff --git a/pkgs/applications/misc/st/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/misc/st/default.nix
index a772629a7aa..5d496dedc2e 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/misc/st/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/misc/st/default.nix
@@ -15,6 +15,9 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   inherit patches;
 
   configFile = optionalString (conf!=null) (writeText "config.def.h" conf);
+  patchPhase = optionalString stdenv.isDarwin ''
+    substituteInPlace config.mk --replace "-lrt" ""
+  '';
   postPatch = optionalString (conf!=null) "cp ${configFile} config.def.h";
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [ pkgconfig ncurses ];