diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/wm/wmii/001-disable-python2-build.patch b/pkgs/by-name/wm/wmii/001-disable-python2-build.patch
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..4bb00ca988d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/wm/wmii/001-disable-python2-build.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+diff --git a/alternative_wmiircs/Makefile b/alternative_wmiircs/Makefile
+index 3b9c3709..3ce46169 100644
+--- a/alternative_wmiircs/Makefile
++++ b/alternative_wmiircs/Makefile
+@@ -3,8 +3,7 @@ include $(ROOT)/mk/hdr.mk
+ include $(ROOT)/mk/wmii.mk
+ 
+ BIN = $(GLOBALCONF)
+-DIRS =	python	\
+-	plan9port \
++DIRS =	plan9port \
+ 	ruby
+ 
+ DOCS   = README
diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/wm/wmii/package.nix b/pkgs/by-name/wm/wmii/package.nix
index a06ba8cad5fb..4cdb8371e12b 100644
--- a/pkgs/by-name/wm/wmii/package.nix
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/wm/wmii/package.nix
@@ -18,13 +18,13 @@
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   pname = "wmii";
-  version = "unstable-2022-04-04";
+  version = "0-unstable-2023-09-30";
 
   src = fetchFromGitHub {
     owner = "0intro";
     repo = "wmii";
-    rev = "ff120c7fee6e1b3a30a4a800074394327fb1da9d";
-    hash = "sha256-KEmWnobpT/5TdgT2HGPCpG1duz9Q6Z6PFSEBs2Ce+7g=";
+    rev = "26848c93457606b350f57d6d313112a745a0cf3d";
+    hash = "sha256-5l2aYAoThbA0Aq8M2vPTzaocQO1AvrnWqgXhmBLADVk=";
   };
 
   # for dlopen-ing
@@ -45,10 +45,11 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     EOF
   '';
 
-  # Remove optional python2 functionality
-  postInstall = ''
-    rm -rf $out/lib/python* $out/etc/wmii-hg/python
-  '';
+  patches = [
+    # the python alternative wmiirc was not building due to errors with pyxp
+    # this patch disables building it altogether
+    ./001-disable-python2-build.patch
+  ];
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [
     pkg-config