diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/science/astronomy/cfitsio/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/science/astronomy/cfitsio/default.nix
index 3be249531bb..e7e8dd04b07 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/science/astronomy/cfitsio/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/science/astronomy/cfitsio/default.nix
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   patches = [ ./darwin-rpath-universal.patch ];
 
-  configureFlags = [ "--with-bzip2=${bzip2.out}" ];
+  configureFlags = [ "--with-bzip2=${bzip2.out}" "--enable-reentrant" ];
 
   hardeningDisable = [ "format" ];