diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs/elisp-packages/melpa-packages.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs/elisp-packages/melpa-packages.nix
index 7c481c6d977..39835c58b65 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs/elisp-packages/melpa-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs/elisp-packages/melpa-packages.nix
@@ -217,6 +217,12 @@ let
         flycheck-rtags = fix-rtags super.flycheck-rtags;
 
         pdf-tools = super.pdf-tools.overrideAttrs (old: {
+          # Temporary work around for:
+          #   - https://github.com/vedang/pdf-tools/issues/102
+          #   - https://github.com/vedang/pdf-tools/issues/103
+          #   - https://github.com/vedang/pdf-tools/issues/109
+          CXXFLAGS = "-std=c++17";
+
           nativeBuildInputs = [
             pkgs.autoconf
             pkgs.automake