diff --git a/srcpkgs/i3/template b/srcpkgs/i3/template
index 4e2b23f821c..51733b6ba53 100644
--- a/srcpkgs/i3/template
+++ b/srcpkgs/i3/template
@@ -21,7 +21,10 @@ case "$XBPS_TARGET_MACHINE" in
 	*-musl) makedepends+=" libglob-devel";;
 esac
 
-post_patch() {
+pre_configure() {
+	# This change must be in pre_configre because:
+	# - it needs to be done before configure
+	# - date wrapper is only available from pre-configure
 	vsed -i "s/-non-git/ ($(date --iso-8601))/" meson.build
 	case "$XBPS_TARGET_MACHINE" in
 	*-musl)