diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/sp/spectre-meltdown-checker/package.nix b/pkgs/by-name/sp/spectre-meltdown-checker/package.nix
index b71ef96afd80..ed4fbb2e8693 100644
--- a/pkgs/by-name/sp/spectre-meltdown-checker/package.nix
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/sp/spectre-meltdown-checker/package.nix
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
 
   prePatch = ''
     substituteInPlace spectre-meltdown-checker.sh \
-      --replace /bin/echo ${coreutils}/bin/echo
+      --replace-fail /bin/echo ${coreutils}/bin/echo
   '';
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [ makeBinaryWrapper ];