diff --git a/pkgs/tools/archivers/gnutar/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/archivers/gnutar/default.nix
index a38c7fcdd1e..26c20ffc043 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/archivers/gnutar/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/archivers/gnutar/default.nix
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
-{stdenv, fetchurl}:
+{stdenv, fetchurl, withMan ? false, help2man ? null}:
 
-stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
+assert withMan -> help2man != null;
+
+stdenv.mkDerivation (rec {
   name = "gnutar-1.25";
 
   src = fetchurl {
@@ -32,4 +34,10 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     maintainers = [ stdenv.lib.maintainers.ludo ];
     platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.all;
   };
-}
+} // (if withMan then {
+  buildInputs = [ help2man ];
+  postInstall = ''
+    ensureDir $out/share/man/man1
+    help2man $out/bin/tar > $out/share/man/man1/tar.1
+  '';
+} else {}))
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 58581324ba1..1894dccc955 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -776,7 +776,11 @@ let
 
   gnused_4_2 = callPackage ../tools/text/gnused/4.2.nix { };
 
-  gnutar = callPackage ../tools/archivers/gnutar { };
+  gnutar = lowPrio (callPackage ../tools/archivers/gnutar { });
+
+  gnutarWithMan = callPackage ../tools/archivers/gnutar {
+    withMan = true;
+  };
 
   gnuvd = callPackage ../tools/misc/gnuvd { };