diff --git a/pkgs/applications/misc/gpsbabel/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/misc/gpsbabel/default.nix
index 0625219c2762..90de624c733f 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/misc/gpsbabel/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/misc/gpsbabel/default.nix
@@ -20,7 +20,12 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     But FOP isn't packaged yet.  */
 
   preConfigure = "cd gpsbabel";
-  configureFlags = [ "--with-zlib=system" ];
+  configureFlags = [ "--with-zlib=system" ]
+    # Floating point behavior on i686 causes test failures. Preventing
+    # extended precision fixes this problem.
+    ++ stdenv.lib.optional stdenv.isi686 "CXXFLAGS=-ffloat-store";
+
+  enableParallelBuilding = true;
 
   doCheck = true;
   preCheck = ''