diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/nftables/default.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/nftables/default.nix
index de3e3f6b37e..c9f9a512ad8 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/nftables/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/nftables/default.nix
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
-{ stdenv, fetchurl, pkgconfig, bison, flex
+{ stdenv, fetchurl, pkgconfig, bison, file, flex
 , asciidoc, libxslt, findXMLCatalogs, docbook_xml_dtd_45, docbook_xsl
 , libmnl, libnftnl, libpcap
 , gmp, jansson, readline
+, withDebugSymbols ? false
+, withPython ? false , python3
 , withXtables ? false , iptables
 }:
 
@@ -16,19 +18,27 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     sha256 = "1x8kalbggjq44j4916i6vyv1rb20dlh1dcsf9xvzqsry2j063djw";
   };
 
-  configureFlags = [
-    "--with-json"
-  ] ++ optional withXtables "--with-xtables";
-
   nativeBuildInputs = [
-    pkgconfig bison flex
-    asciidoc libxslt findXMLCatalogs docbook_xml_dtd_45 docbook_xsl
+    pkgconfig bison file flex
+    asciidoc docbook_xml_dtd_45 docbook_xsl findXMLCatalogs libxslt 
   ];
 
   buildInputs = [
     libmnl libnftnl libpcap
-    gmp readline jansson
-  ] ++ optional withXtables iptables;
+    gmp jansson readline
+  ] ++ optional withXtables iptables
+    ++ optional withPython python3;
+
+  preConfigure = ''
+    substituteInPlace ./configure --replace /usr/bin/file ${file}/bin/file
+  '';
+
+  configureFlags = [
+    "--with-json"
+  ] ++ optional (!withDebugSymbols) "--disable-debug"
+    ++ optional (!withPython) "--disable-python"
+    ++ optional withPython "--enable-python"
+    ++ optional withXtables "--with-xtables";
 
   meta = {
     description = "The project that aims to replace the existing {ip,ip6,arp,eb}tables framework";