diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/qe/qemu/package.nix b/pkgs/by-name/qe/qemu/package.nix
index 7eb7facb578e..28399b8031c6 100644
--- a/pkgs/by-name/qe/qemu/package.nix
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/qe/qemu/package.nix
@@ -257,6 +257,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
   dontUseNinjaCheck = true;
   dontUseNinjaInstall = true;
   dontAddStaticConfigureFlags = true;
+  enableParallelBuilding = true;
 
   outputs = [ "out" ] ++ lib.optional enableDocs "doc" ++ lib.optional guestAgentSupport "ga";
   separateDebugInfo = true;