diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/mesa/generic.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/mesa/generic.nix
index f7463c784518..82055ecd3427 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/mesa/generic.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/mesa/generic.nix
@@ -329,6 +329,10 @@ self = stdenv.mkDerivation {
         patchelf --set-rpath "$(patchelf --print-rpath $lib):$drivers/lib" "$lib"
       fi
     done
+    # add RPATH here so Zink can find libvulkan.so
+    ${lib.optionalString haveZink ''
+      patchelf --add-rpath ${vulkan-loader}/lib $drivers/lib/dri/zink_dri.so
+    ''}
   '';
 
   env.NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE = toString (lib.optionals stdenv.isDarwin [ "-fno-common" ] ++ lib.optionals enableOpenCL [