diff --git a/pkgs/tools/security/pcsclite/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/security/pcsclite/default.nix
index 08a4b5b08d02..386fa01275ca 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/security/pcsclite/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/security/pcsclite/default.nix
@@ -46,6 +46,14 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
     "POLICY_DIR=$(out)/share/polkit-1/actions"
   ];
 
+  # disable building pcsc-wirecheck{,-gen} when cross compiling
+  # see also: https://github.com/LudovicRousseau/PCSC/issues/25
+  postPatch = lib.optionalString (!stdenv.buildPlatform.canExecute stdenv.hostPlatform) ''
+    substituteInPlace src/Makefile.am \
+      --replace "noinst_PROGRAMS = testpcsc pcsc-wirecheck pcsc-wirecheck-gen" \
+                "noinst_PROGRAMS = testpcsc"
+  '';
+
   postInstall = ''
     # pcsc-spy is a debugging utility and it drags python into the closure
     moveToOutput bin/pcsc-spy "$dev"