diff --git a/accessibility/unclutter/unclutter.SlackBuild b/accessibility/unclutter/unclutter.SlackBuild
index 87a1ab7892..b7146c9346 100644
--- a/accessibility/unclutter/unclutter.SlackBuild
+++ b/accessibility/unclutter/unclutter.SlackBuild
@@ -58,6 +58,8 @@ find -L . \
 # than I care to do for no benefit.
 patch -p1 < $CWD/fixwarnings.diff
 
+# work around slack 14.2 issue (only happens when upgrading from 14.1)
+touch host.def
 xmkmf -a
 make CDEBUGFLAGS="$SLKCFLAGS"