diff --git a/pkgs/applications/networking/sync/rsync/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/networking/sync/rsync/default.nix
index 343895e0877..09f85b9edfc 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/networking/sync/rsync/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/networking/sync/rsync/default.nix
@@ -1,17 +1,26 @@
 { stdenv, fetchurl, perl
 , enableACLs ? true, acl ? null
+, enableCopyDevicesPatch ? false
 }:
 
 assert enableACLs -> acl != null;
 
-stdenv.mkDerivation {
+stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   name = "rsync-3.0.9";
 
-  src = fetchurl {
+  mainSrc = fetchurl {
     url = http://rsync.samba.org/ftp/rsync/src/rsync-3.0.9.tar.gz;
     sha256 = "01bw4klqsrlhh3i9lazd485sd9qx5djvnwa21lj2h3a9sn6hzw9h";
   };
 
+  patchesSrc = fetchurl {
+    url = http://rsync.samba.org/ftp/rsync/rsync-patches-3.0.9.tar.gz;
+    sha256 = "0c1e9b56e99667dfc47641124460bac61a04c5d2ee89f575c6bc78c7a69005a9";
+  };
+
+  srcs = [mainSrc] ++ stdenv.lib.optional enableCopyDevicesPatch patchesSrc;
+  patches = [] ++ stdenv.lib.optional enableCopyDevicesPatch "./patches/copy-devices.diff";
+
   buildInputs = stdenv.lib.optional enableACLs acl;
   buildNativeInputs = [perl];
 
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 66e852ee2c5..937a79e73b7 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -7359,6 +7359,7 @@ let
 
   rsync = callPackage ../applications/networking/sync/rsync {
     enableACLs = !(stdenv.isDarwin || stdenv.isSunOS);
+    enableCopyDevicesPatch = (getConfig ["rsync" "enableCopyDevicesPatch"] false);
   };
 
   rxvt = callPackage ../applications/misc/rxvt { };