diff --git a/gnu/packages/gnome.scm b/gnu/packages/gnome.scm
index 4299d84deb..600b73f7e9 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/gnome.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/gnome.scm
@@ -5447,7 +5447,7 @@ (define-public network-manager-openvpn
                 "0gyrv46h9k17qym48qacq4zpxbap6hi17shn921824zm98m2bdvr"))))
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
     (arguments
-     '(#:configure-flags '("--enable-absolute-paths")))
+     '(#:configure-flags '("--enable-absolute-paths" "--localstatedir=/var")))
     (native-inputs
      `(("pkg-config" ,pkg-config)
        ("intltool" ,intltool)))