diff --git a/gnu/packages/tls.scm b/gnu/packages/tls.scm
index 4ec0ed7d34..d013cdf4b5 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/tls.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/tls.scm
@@ -213,7 +213,8 @@ (define-public openssl
    (build-system gnu-build-system)
    (native-inputs `(("perl" ,perl)))
    (arguments
-    `(#:parallel-build? #f
+    `(#:disallowed-references (,perl)
+      #:parallel-build? #f
       #:parallel-tests? #f
       #:test-target "test"