diff --git a/gnu/packages/emulators.scm b/gnu/packages/emulators.scm
index fa1f07eaf3..8e63cfacbd 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/emulators.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/emulators.scm
@@ -1760,7 +1760,7 @@ (define-public libticalcs2
 (define-public mame
   (package
     (name "mame")
-    (version "0.252")
+    (version "0.253")
     (source
      (origin
        (method git-fetch)
@@ -1769,33 +1769,56 @@ (define-public mame
              (commit (apply string-append "mame" (string-split version #\.)))))
        (file-name (git-file-name name version))
        (sha256
-        (base32 "07qhcm1v47sy2wj30nx3cbhvcbgki0cl83gabr0miiw60fhgyn6j"))
-       (modules '((guix build utils)))
+        (base32 "0mk6clpvw7y567qis1g1rxabwz7qxik6c1ywjdqr5075a2kw44jm"))
+       (modules '((ice-9 ftw)
+                  (srfi srfi-26)
+                  (guix build utils)))
        (snippet
-        ;; Remove bundled libraries.
-        '(begin
-           (with-directory-excursion "3rdparty"
-             (for-each delete-file-recursively
-                       '("asio" "expat" "glm" "libflac" "libjpeg" "lua"
-                         "portaudio" "portmidi" "pugixml" "rapidjson" "SDL2"
-                         "SDL2-override" "sqlite3" "utf8proc" "zlib")))))))
+        ;; Remove most bundled libraries.  Some of the kept libraries below
+        ;; are provided by Guix, but difficult to un-bundle.
+        #~(with-directory-excursion "3rdparty"
+            (let ((keep (list "." ".."
+                              "asmjit"
+                              "bgfx"
+                              "bimg"
+                              "bx"
+                              "genie"
+                              "linenoise"
+                              "lsqlite3"
+                              "lua-linenoise"
+                              "lzma"
+                              "minimp3"
+                              "nanosvg"
+                              "softfloat"
+                              "softfloat3"
+                              "sol2"
+                              "wdlfft"
+                              "ymfm")))
+              (for-each delete-file-recursively
+                        (scandir "." (negate (cut member <> keep)))))))))
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
     (arguments
      (list
       #:make-flags
-      #~(cons*
+      #~(list
          ;; A 'strict-overflow' error pops up on i686 so disable '-Werror'.
          "NOWERROR=1"
          (string-append "QT_HOME=" #$(this-package-input "qtbase"))
-         (string-append "SDL_INI_PATH=" #$output "/share/mame/ini")
-         (map (lambda (lib)
-                (string-append "USE_SYSTEM_LIB_" (string-upcase lib) "=1"))
-              '("asio" "expat" "flac" "glm" "jpeg" "lua" "portaudio" "portmidi"
-                "pugixml" "rapidjson" "sqlite3" "utf8proc" "zlib")))
+         (string-append "SDL_INI_PATH=" #$output "/share/mame/ini"))
       #:tests? #f                       ;no test in regular release
       #:phases
       #~(modify-phases %standard-phases
+          (add-after 'unpack 'fix-sol2-build-error
+            ;; Fix "error: operator '!=' has no left operand" because
+            ;; LUA_COMPAT_BITLIB is empty.
+            (lambda _
+              (substitute* "3rdparty/sol2/sol/sol.hpp"
+                (("&& \\(LUA_COMPAT_BITLIB != 0\\)") ""))))
           (delete 'configure)
+          (add-before 'build 'use-system-libraries
+            (lambda _
+              (substitute* "makefile"
+                (("# +(USE_SYSTEM_LIB)" _ option) option))))
           (add-after 'build 'build-documentation
             (lambda _ (invoke "make" "-C" "docs" "man" "info")))
           (replace 'install
@@ -1898,7 +1921,8 @@ (define-public mame
                            Keywords=Game;Emulator;Arcade;~%"
                             executable)))))))))
     (native-inputs
-     (list pkg-config
+     (list nasm
+           pkg-config
            python-sphinx
            python-sphinxcontrib-svg2pdfconverter
            texinfo))
@@ -1912,7 +1936,7 @@ (define-public mame
            libjpeg-turbo
            libxi
            libxinerama
-           lua
+           lua-5.4
            portaudio
            portmidi
            pugixml
