diff --git a/srcpkgs/ghc/patches/sphinx-unicode.patch b/srcpkgs/ghc/patches/sphinx-unicode.patch
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0286b9c2bd3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/srcpkgs/ghc/patches/sphinx-unicode.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+diff -rpU2 ghc-8.8.4-orig/docs/users_guide/conf.py ghc-8.8.4/docs/users_guide/conf.py
+--- ghc-8.8.4-orig/docs/users_guide/conf.py	2020-07-08 16:43:03.000000000 +0000
++++ ghc-8.8.4/docs/users_guide/conf.py	2021-07-10 20:25:33.536928487 +0000
+@@ -78,5 +78,5 @@ latex_elements = {
+     'inputenc': '',
+     'utf8extra': '',
+-    'preamble': '''
++    'preamble': r'''
+ \usepackage{fontspec}
+ \usepackage{makeidx}
+@@ -84,5 +84,5 @@ latex_elements = {
+ \setromanfont{DejaVu Serif}
+ \setmonofont{DejaVu Sans Mono}
+-\setlength{\\tymin}{45pt}
++\setlength{\tymin}{45pt}
+ ''',
+ }