diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/cpython/default.nix b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/cpython/default.nix
index b778b62f908..d9d00409095 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/cpython/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/cpython/default.nix
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 , stripTkinter ? false
 , rebuildBytecode ? true
 , stripBytecode ? false
+, includeSiteCustomize ? true
 }:
 
 assert x11Support -> tcl != null
@@ -237,7 +238,7 @@ in with passthru; stdenv.mkDerivation {
     '' + optionalString stripTests ''
     # Strip tests
     rm -R $out/lib/python*/test $out/lib/python*/**/test{,s}
-    '' + ''
+    '' + optionalString includeSiteCustomize ''
     # Include a sitecustomize.py file
     cp ${../sitecustomize.py} $out/${sitePackages}/sitecustomize.py
     '' + optionalString rebuildBytecode ''
diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/default.nix b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/default.nix
index 5fa37a9da2a..1d729286f79 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/default.nix
@@ -143,6 +143,7 @@ in {
     stripTkinter = true;
     rebuildBytecode = false;
     stripBytecode = true;
+    includeSiteCustomize = false;
   }).overrideAttrs(old: {
     pname = "python3-minimal";
     meta = old.meta // {