I don’t think there’s a bug here. It’s just that your value for R_HOME is incorrect.
--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8--- $ R_HOME=$(guix build r-minimal)/lib/R guix environment --ad-hoc r-rserve -- Rserve The following derivation will be built: /gnu/store/99sy2r53p2s4njm055xjq4j9q2bqrxq4-profile.drv building CA certificate bundle... building fonts directory... building directory of Info manuals... building database for manual pages... building profile with 1 package... R version 4.0.4 (2021-02-15) -- "Lost Library Book" Copyright (C) 2021 The R Foundation for Statistical Computing Platform: x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu (64-bit) R is free software and comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY. You are welcome to redistribute it under certain conditions. Type 'license()' or 'licence()' for distribution details. Natural language support but running in an English locale R is a collaborative project with many contributors. Type 'contributors()' for more information and 'citation()' on how to cite R or R packages in publications. Type 'demo()' for some demos, 'help()' for on-line help, or 'help.start()' for an HTML browser interface to help. Type 'q()' to quit R. Rserv started in daemon mode. $ --8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8--- -- Ricardo