diff --git a/srcpkgs/rxvt-unicode/template b/srcpkgs/rxvt-unicode/template
index 5603b65121..1f9df24820 100644
--- a/srcpkgs/rxvt-unicode/template
+++ b/srcpkgs/rxvt-unicode/template
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ build_options="gdk_pixbuf perl startup_notification unicode3"
 desc_option_unicode3="Use 21 instead of 16 bits to represent unicode chars"
 
 # Enable startup-notification by default.
-build_options_default="startup_notification"
+build_options_default="perl startup_notification"
 
 if [ "$build_option_gdk_pixbuf" ]; then
 	configure_args+=" --enable-pixbuf"