diff --git a/pkgs/development/compilers/crystal/default.nix b/pkgs/development/compilers/crystal/default.nix
index 9cf3bebe7ed9..88274ef73c94 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/compilers/crystal/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/compilers/crystal/default.nix
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 , callPackage
 , fetchFromGitHub
 , fetchurl
+, fetchpatch
 , lib
   # Dependencies
 , boehmgc
@@ -97,6 +98,16 @@ let
         inherit sha256;
       };
 
+      patches = lib.optionals (lib.versionOlder version "1.2.0") [
+        # add support for DWARF5 debuginfo, fixes builds on recent compilers
+        # the PR is 8 commits from 2019, so just fetch the whole thing
+        # and hope it doesn't change
+        (fetchpatch {
+          url = "https://github.com/crystal-lang/crystal/pull/11399.patch";
+          sha256 = "sha256-CjNpkQQ2UREADmlyLUt7zbhjXf0rTjFhNbFYLwJKkc8=";
+        })
+      ];
+
       outputs = [ "out" "lib" "bin" ];
 
       postPatch = ''