diff --git a/pkgs/applications/video/MPlayer/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/video/MPlayer/default.nix
index 47c68df1ba3..2eca645ed9c 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/video/MPlayer/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/video/MPlayer/default.nix
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 , lameSupport ? true, lame ? null
 , screenSaverSupport ? true, libXScrnSaver
 , pulseSupport ? false, pulseaudio
-, mesa, pkgconfig, unzip, yasm
+, mesa, pkgconfig, unzip, yasm, freefont_ttf
 }:
 
 assert alsaSupport -> alsaLib != null;
@@ -104,6 +104,13 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   NIX_LDFLAGS = if x11Support then "-lX11 -lXext" else "";
 
+  # Provide a reasonable standard font.  Maybe we should symlink here.
+  postInstall =
+    ''
+      mkdir -p $out/share/mplayer
+      cp ${freefont_ttf}/share/fonts/truetype/FreeSans.ttf $out/share/mplayer/subfont.ttf
+    '';
+
   crossAttrs = {
     preConfigure = ''
       configureFlags="`echo $configureFlags |