diff --git a/pkgs/tools/system/cron/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/system/cron/default.nix
index 374f0ac19d89f9..aa047ca4a681db 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/system/cron/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/system/cron/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{stdenv, fetchurl, sendmailPath ? "/usr/sbin/sendmail"}:
+{stdenv, fetchurl, vim, sendmailPath ? "/usr/sbin/sendmail"}:
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation {
   name = "cron-4.1";
@@ -25,6 +25,9 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
     #undef _PATH_SENDMAIL
     #define _PATH_SENDMAIL "${sendmailPath}"
 
+    #undef _PATH_VI
+    #define _PATH_VI "${vim}/bin/vim"
+
     #undef _PATH_DEFPATH
     #define _PATH_DEFPATH "/run/wrappers/bin:/nix/var/nix/profiles/default/bin:/run/current-system/sw/bin:/usr/bin:/bin"
     __EOT__