diff --git a/build/docker/ubuntu-xenial/Dockerfile b/build/docker/ubuntu-xenial/Dockerfile
index 1e70002..c69bec2 100644
--- a/build/docker/ubuntu-xenial/Dockerfile
+++ b/build/docker/ubuntu-xenial/Dockerfile
@@ -151,10 +151,16 @@
       ln -s /usr/local/go/bin/go /usr/local/bin && \
       rm golang.tar.gz
 
+# due to a bug in cabal in xenial (cabal-install package) we pull in another:
 RUN apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
 `# Haskell dependencies` \
-      ghc \
-      cabal-install
+      ghc && \
+    cd /tmp && \
+    wget -q https://www.haskell.org/cabal/release/cabal-install-1.24.0.2/cabal-install-1.24.0.2-x86_64-unknown-linux.tar.gz && \
+    tar xzf cabal-install-1.24.0.2-x86_64-unknown-linux.tar.gz && \
+    find dist-newstyle/ -type f -name cabal -exec mv {} /usr/bin \; && \
+    rm -rf /tmp/cabal* && \
+    cabal --version
 
 RUN apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
 `# Haxe dependencies` \
diff --git a/lib/hs/thrift.cabal b/lib/hs/thrift.cabal
index 4e9cb18..03a9814 100644
--- a/lib/hs/thrift.cabal
+++ b/lib/hs/thrift.cabal
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 
 Name:           thrift
 Version:        1.0.0-dev
-Cabal-Version:  >= 1.8
+Cabal-Version:  >= 1.24
 License:        OtherLicense
 Category:       Foreign
 Build-Type:     Simple
@@ -63,7 +63,9 @@
     Thrift.Transport.IOBuffer,
     Thrift.Transport.Memory,
     Thrift.Types
-  Extensions:
+  Default-Language:
+    Haskell2010
+  Default-Extensions:
     DeriveDataTypeable,
     ExistentialQuantification,
     FlexibleInstances,