diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/kati/default.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/kati/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7b5dc2b7937
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/kati/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+{ fetchgit, stdenv }:
+
+stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
+  name = "kati-unstable-${version}";
+  version = "2017-05-23";
+  rev = "2dde61e46ab789f18956ff3b7c257dd8eb97993f";
+
+  src = fetchgit {
+    inherit rev;
+    url = "https://github.com/google/kati.git";
+    sha256 = "1das1fvycra546lmh72cr5qpgblhbzqqy7gfywiijjgx160l75vq";
+  };
+
+  patches = [ ./version.patch ];
+
+  installPhase = ''
+    install -D ckati $out/bin/ckati
+  '';
+
+  meta = {
+    description = "An experimental GNU make clone";
+    homepage = "https://github.com/google/kati";
+    platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.all;
+    license = stdenv.lib.licenses.asl20;
+  };
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/kati/version.patch b/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/kati/version.patch
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1821ac6bbb7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/kati/version.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+diff --git a/Makefile.ckati b/Makefile.ckati
+index e4067bb..15518f3 100644
+--- a/Makefile.ckati
++++ b/Makefile.ckati
+@@ -102,14 +102,8 @@ $(KATI_CXX_TEST_EXES): $(KATI_BIN_PATH)/%: $(KATI_INTERMEDIATES_PATH)/%.o
+ 	$(KATI_LD) $^ -o $@ $(KATI_LIBS)
+ 
+ # Rule to generate version.cc
+-KATI_GIT_DIR := $(shell git -C $(KATI_SRC_PATH) rev-parse --show-toplevel)
+-ifneq ($(KATI_GIT_DIR),)
+-KATI_VERSION_DEPS := $(KATI_GIT_DIR)/.git/HEAD $(KATI_GIT_DIR)/.git/index
+-KATI_VERSION := $(shell git -C $(KATI_GIT_DIR) rev-parse HEAD)
+-else
+ KATI_VERSION_DEPS :=
+ KATI_VERSION := unknown
+-endif
+ $(KATI_INTERMEDIATES_PATH)/version.cc: $(KATI_VERSION_DEPS)
+ 	@mkdir -p $(dir $@)
+ 	echo '// +build ignore' > $@
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 885313e6aff..29c6da0962a 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -6862,6 +6862,8 @@ with pkgs;
 
   jenkins-job-builder = pythonPackages.jenkins-job-builder;
 
+  kati = callPackage ../development/tools/build-managers/kati { };
+
   kconfig-frontends = callPackage ../development/tools/misc/kconfig-frontends {
     gperf = gperf_3_0;
   };