diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/documentation/gtk-doc/default.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/documentation/gtk-doc/default.nix
index 5f31a2dfb7c6..b88b8e3c82a9 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/documentation/gtk-doc/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/documentation/gtk-doc/default.nix
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   };
 
   patches = [
-    ./respect-xml-catalog-files-var.patch
+    passthru.respect_xml_catalog_files_var_patch
   ];
 
   outputDevdoc = "out";
@@ -24,6 +24,11 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   configureFlags = "--disable-scrollkeeper";
 
+  passthru = {
+    # Consumers are expected to copy the m4 files to their source tree, let them reuse the patch
+    respect_xml_catalog_files_var_patch = ./respect-xml-catalog-files-var.patch;
+  };
+
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
     homepage = https://www.gtk.org/gtk-doc;
     description = "Tools to extract documentation embedded in GTK+ and GNOME source code";