diff --git a/hosts/common/cross/default.nix b/hosts/common/cross/default.nix
index 674ce64c..5e7ae881 100644
--- a/hosts/common/cross/default.nix
+++ b/hosts/common/cross/default.nix
@@ -258,7 +258,6 @@ in
             # nixpkgs hdf5 is at commit 3e847e003632bdd5fdc189ccbffe25ad2661e16f
             # hdf5  # configure: error: cannot run test program while cross compiling
             # http2
-            kitty  # "FileNotFoundError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'pkg-config'"
             libgccjit  # "../../gcc-9.5.0/gcc/jit/jit-result.c:52:3: error: 'dlclose' was not declared in this scope"  (needed by emacs!)
             # libsForQt5  # qtbase  # make: g++: No such file or directory
             libtiger  # "src/tiger_internal.h:24:10: fatal error: pango/pango.h: No such file or directory"
@@ -733,10 +732,17 @@ in
             nativeBuildInputs = orig.nativeBuildInputs ++ [ next.glib next.gtk-doc ];
           });
 
-          # kitty = prev.kitty.override {
-          #   # does not solve original error
-          #   inherit (emulated) stdenv;
-          # };
+          kitty = prev.kitty.overrideAttrs (upstream: {
+            # fixes: "FileNotFoundError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'pkg-config'"
+            PKGCONFIG_EXE = "${next.buildPackages.pkg-config}/bin/${next.buildPackages.pkg-config.targetPrefix}pkg-config";
+
+            # when building docs, kitty's setup.py invokes `sphinx`, which tries to load a .so for the host.
+            # on cross compilation, that fails
+            KITTY_NO_DOCS = true;
+            patches = upstream.patches ++ [
+              ./kitty-no-docs.patch
+            ];
+          });
 
           libchamplain = prev.libchamplain.overrideAttrs (upstream: {
             # fixes: "failed to produce output path for output 'devdoc'"
diff --git a/hosts/common/cross/kitty-no-docs.patch b/hosts/common/cross/kitty-no-docs.patch
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2bb4bfab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hosts/common/cross/kitty-no-docs.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
+index 2b9d240e..770bc5e7 100755
+--- a/setup.py
++++ b/setup.py
+@@ -1092,11 +1092,12 @@ def c(base_path: str, **kw: object) -> None:
+ 
+ 
+ def create_linux_bundle_gunk(ddir: str, libdir_name: str) -> None:
+-    if not os.path.exists('docs/_build/html'):
+-        make = 'gmake' if is_freebsd else 'make'
+-        run_tool([make, 'docs'])
+-    copy_man_pages(ddir)
+-    copy_html_docs(ddir)
++    if not os.getenv('KITTY_NO_DOCS'):
++        if not os.path.exists('docs/_build/html'):
++            make = 'gmake' if is_freebsd else 'make'
++            run_tool([make, 'docs'])
++        copy_man_pages(ddir)
++        copy_html_docs(ddir)
+     for (icdir, ext) in {'256x256': 'png', 'scalable': 'svg'}.items():
+         icdir = os.path.join(ddir, 'share', 'icons', 'hicolor', icdir, 'apps')
+         safe_makedirs(icdir)