diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/vim/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/vim/default.nix
index 0bb2b0b8c0ce..c5b9a607f20d 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/vim/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/vim/default.nix
@@ -50,6 +50,15 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
     ln -s $out/bin/vim $out/bin/vi
     mkdir -p $out/share/vim
     cp "${vimrc}" $out/share/vim/vimrc
+
+    # Prevent bugs in the upstream makefile from silently failing and missing outputs.
+    # Some of those are build-time requirements for other packages.
+    for tool in ex xxd vi view vimdiff; do
+      if [ ! -e "$out/bin/$tool" ]; then
+        echo "ERROR: install phase did not install '$tool'."
+        exit 1
+      fi
+    done
   '';
 
   __impureHostDeps = [ "/dev/ptmx" ];