diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/zlib/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/zlib/default.nix
index 190da7a98f4..613d86e8ba8 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/zlib/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/zlib/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{stdenv, fetchurl}:
+{stdenv, fetchurl, static ? false}:
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation {
   name = "zlib-1.2.3";
@@ -6,5 +6,5 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
     url = http://nix.cs.uu.nl/dist/tarballs/zlib-1.2.3.tar.gz;
     md5 = "debc62758716a169df9f62e6ab2bc634";
   };
-  configureFlags = "--shared";
+  configureFlags = if static then "" else "--shared";
 }