diff --git a/gnu/packages/rrdtool.scm b/gnu/packages/rrdtool.scm
index 3c29df0e49..1fb642216d 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/rrdtool.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/rrdtool.scm
@@ -62,7 +62,8 @@ (define-public rrdtool
            perl ; will also build Perl bindings
            tzdata-for-tests))
     (arguments
-     '(#:phases
+     `(#:disallowed-references (,tzdata-for-tests)
+       #:phases
        (modify-phases %standard-phases
          (add-before 'configure 'pre-configure
            (lambda _