diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/boost/generic.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/boost/generic.nix
index f7bd189022f..2d0a5a63d6f 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/boost/generic.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/boost/generic.nix
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 , taggedLayout ? ((enableRelease && enableDebug) || (enableSingleThreaded && enableMultiThreaded) || (enableShared && enableStatic))
 , patches ? []
 , mpi ? null
+, extraB2Args ? []
 
 # Attributes inherit from specific versions
 , version, src
@@ -92,7 +93,8 @@ let
     ++ optional (mpi != null || stdenv.hostPlatform != stdenv.buildPlatform) "--user-config=user-config.jam"
     ++ optionals (stdenv.hostPlatform.libc == "msvcrt") [
     "threadapi=win32"
-  ]);
+  ] ++ extraB2Args
+  );
 
 in