diff --git a/pkgs/desktops/xfce/automakeAddFlags.sh b/pkgs/desktops/xfce/automakeAddFlags.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index 92d5659d05ca..000000000000
--- a/pkgs/desktops/xfce/automakeAddFlags.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,7 +0,0 @@
-automakeAddFlags() {
-    local file="$1"
-    local target="$2"
-    local source="$3"
-
-    sed "/$target/a\$($source) \\\\" -i $file
-}
diff --git a/pkgs/desktops/xfce/default.nix b/pkgs/desktops/xfce/default.nix
index f0c53a4c3892..a1416426a32a 100644
--- a/pkgs/desktops/xfce/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/desktops/xfce/default.nix
@@ -18,10 +18,6 @@ makeScopeWithSplicing' {
 
       mkXfceDerivation = callPackage ./mkXfceDerivation.nix { };
 
-      automakeAddFlags = pkgs.makeSetupHook {
-        name = "xfce-automake-add-flags-hook";
-      } ./automakeAddFlags.sh;
-
       #### CORE
 
       exo = callPackage ./core/exo { };
@@ -169,6 +165,8 @@ makeScopeWithSplicing' {
     } // lib.optionalAttrs config.allowAliases {
       #### ALIASES
 
+      automakeAddFlags = throw "xfce.automakeAddFlags has been removed: this setup-hook is no longer used in Nixpkgs"; # added 2024-03-24
+
       xinitrc = self.xfce4-session.xinitrc; # added 2019-11-04
 
       thunar-bare = self.thunar.override { thunarPlugins = [ ]; }; # added 2019-11-04