diff --git a/srcpkgs/mercurial/template b/srcpkgs/mercurial/template
index 1851a19b537..cdc27eb134b 100644
--- a/srcpkgs/mercurial/template
+++ b/srcpkgs/mercurial/template
@@ -11,6 +11,10 @@ homepage="http://mercurial.selenic.com"
 distfiles="${homepage}/release/${pkgname}-${version}.tar.gz"
 checksum=b6413aa339fd91a86288df7cf4f9db9bf3443b1ff55e8118530fdb9e8c788e64
 
+if [ "$CROSS_BUILD" ]; then
+	hostmakedepends="python-devel"
+fi
+
 post_install() {
 	vmkdir usr/share/man/man1
 	vmkdir usr/share/man/man5