diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/netcdf-cxx4/cmake-h5free.patch b/pkgs/development/libraries/netcdf-cxx4/cmake-h5free.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..7d1723c3ef98c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/netcdf-cxx4/cmake-h5free.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
+index 60c699d..606b972 100644
+--- a/CMakeLists.txt
++++ b/CMakeLists.txt
+@@ -402,7 +402,7 @@ ELSE(MSVC)
+   FIND_PACKAGE(HDF5 COMPONENTS C HL REQUIRED)
+ ENDIF(MSVC)
+ 
+-CHECK_LIBRARY_EXISTS(${HDF5_C_LIBRARY_hdf5} H5free_memory "" HAVE_H5FREE_MEMORY)
++CHECK_LIBRARY_EXISTS(${HDF5_C_LIBRARIES} H5free_memory "" HAVE_H5FREE_MEMORY)
+ IF(NOT HAVE_H5FREE_MEMORY)
+   MESSAGE(STATUS "Plugin support requires libhdf5 with H5Free support. Your libhdf5 install does not provide H5Free.  Please install a newer version of libhdf5 if you require plugin compression support.")
+   SET(NC_HAS_DEF_VAR_FILTER "")
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/netcdf-cxx4/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/netcdf-cxx4/default.nix
index 5f0fade2566e1..945eb219229ff 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/netcdf-cxx4/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/netcdf-cxx4/default.nix
@@ -10,6 +10,11 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     sha256 = "sha256-GZ6n7dW3l8Kqrk2Xp2mxRTUWWQj0XEd2LDTG9EtrfhY=";
   };
 
+  patches = [
+    # This fix is included upstream, remove with next upgrade
+    ./cmake-h5free.patch
+  ];
+
   preConfigure = ''
     cmakeFlags+="-Dabs_top_srcdir=$(readlink -f ./)"
   '';
@@ -28,5 +33,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     homepage = "https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/netcdf/";
     license = lib.licenses.free;
     platforms = lib.platforms.unix;
+    broken = stdenv.isDarwin;
   };
 }