diff --git a/srcpkgs/newsboat/template b/srcpkgs/newsboat/template
index 9a126908bbd..7a4485ca082 100644
--- a/srcpkgs/newsboat/template
+++ b/srcpkgs/newsboat/template
@@ -21,6 +21,15 @@ if [ "$CROSS_BUILD" ]; then
 	CXXFLAGS=" -Wno-error=sign-compare"
 fi
 
+pre_configure() {
+	if [ "$CROSS_BUILD" ]; then
+		cd doc
+		g++ -o generate generate.cpp
+		g++ -o generate2 generate2.cpp
+		g++ -o gen-example-config gen-example-config.cpp
+	fi
+}
+
 do_check() {
 	rm -f test/rss.cpp