diff --git a/srcpkgs/glmark2/template b/srcpkgs/glmark2/template
index 42b33d2e9f6..ea3bc94ba74 100644
--- a/srcpkgs/glmark2/template
+++ b/srcpkgs/glmark2/template
@@ -14,3 +14,8 @@ homepage="https://github.com/glmark2/glmark2"
 changelog="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/glmark2/glmark2/master/NEWS"
 distfiles="https://github.com/glmark2/glmark2/archive/${version}.tar.gz"
 checksum=bebadb78c13aea5e88ed892e5563101ccb745b75f1dc86a8fc7229f00d78cbf1
+
+pre_build() {
+	# this file is racey, so pre-generate it ahead of time
+	ninja -C build src/xdg-shell-client-protocol.h
+}