diff --git a/guix/build/cargo-build-system.scm b/guix/build/cargo-build-system.scm
index a09e864447a..8273ac4ed0f 100644
--- a/guix/build/cargo-build-system.scm
+++ b/guix/build/cargo-build-system.scm
@@ -248,6 +248,7 @@ directory = '" vendor-dir "'") port)
       (setenv "TARGET_PKG_CONFIG" (string-append target "-pkg-config")))
     (setenv "CC" (string-append (assoc-ref inputs "gcc") "/bin/gcc")))
 
+  (setenv "GETTEXT_SYSTEM" "1")
   (setenv "LIBGIT2_SYS_USE_PKG_CONFIG" "1")
   (setenv "LIBSQLITE3_SYS_USE_PKG_CONFIG" "1")
   (setenv "LIBSSH2_SYS_USE_PKG_CONFIG" "1")
@@ -256,8 +257,6 @@ directory = '" vendor-dir "'") port)
   (setenv "ZSTD_SYS_USE_PKG_CONFIG" "1")
   (when (assoc-ref inputs "openssl")
     (setenv "OPENSSL_DIR" (assoc-ref inputs "openssl")))
-  (when (assoc-ref inputs "gettext")
-    (setenv "GETTEXT_SYSTEM" (assoc-ref inputs "gettext")))
   (when (assoc-ref inputs "clang")
     (setenv "LIBCLANG_PATH"
             (string-append (assoc-ref inputs "clang") "/lib")))