diff --git a/pkgs/nim-packages/generic.nix b/pkgs/nim-packages/generic.nix
index 9fffa84..c658e05 100644
--- a/pkgs/nim-packages/generic.nix
+++ b/pkgs/nim-packages/generic.nix
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
       else
         cp -R ${dep} $HOME/.nimble/pkgs/${dep.name}
       fi
+      # nimble >= 0.20.0 wants to store a nimblemeta.json here
+      chmod u+w $HOME/.nimble/pkgs/${dep.name}
     ''
     ) nimDeps) + ''
     nimble install