diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-24/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-24/default.nix
index af5c11e69aef..83774206b5c7 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-24/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-24/default.nix
@@ -57,6 +57,9 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     maintainers = with maintainers; [ chaoflow lovek323 simons the-kenny ];
     platforms   = platforms.all;
 
+    # So that Exuberant ctags is preferred
+    priority = 1;
+
     longDescription = ''
       GNU Emacs is an extensible, customizable text editor—and more.  At its
       core is an interpreter for Emacs Lisp, a dialect of the Lisp