diff --git a/pkgs/desktops/gnustep/gui/default.nix b/pkgs/desktops/gnustep/gui/default.nix
index e945af64d90c..8356a608c833 100644
--- a/pkgs/desktops/gnustep/gui/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/desktops/gnustep/gui/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ gsmakeDerivation, fetchurl, base }:
+{ gsmakeDerivation, fetchurl, fetchpatch, base }:
 let
   version = "0.28.0";
 in
@@ -9,7 +9,13 @@ gsmakeDerivation {
     sha256 = "05wk8kbl75qj0jgawgyv9sp98wsgz5vl1s0d51sads0p0kk2sv8z";
   };
   buildInputs = [ base ];
-  patches = [ ./fixup-all.patch ];
+  patches = [
+    ./fixup-all.patch
+    (fetchpatch {  # for icu68 compatibility, remove with next update(?)
+      url = "https://github.com/gnustep/libs-gui/commit/05572b2d01713f5caf07f334f17ab639be8a1cff.patch";
+      sha256 = "04z287dk8jf3hdwzk8bpnv49qai2dcdlh824yc9bczq291pjy2xc";
+    })
+  ];
   meta = {
     description = "A GUI class library of GNUstep";
   };