diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/ncurses/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/ncurses/default.nix
index bea4754a1f5..9df56212ad2 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/ncurses/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/ncurses/default.nix
@@ -160,5 +160,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     maintainers = with maintainers; [ wkennington ];
   };
 
-  passthru.ldflags = if unicode then "-lncursesw" else "-lncurses";
+  passthru = {
+    ldflags = if unicode then "-lncursesw" else "-lncurses";
+    inherit unicode abiVersion;
+  };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/misc/dialog/default.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/misc/dialog/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d70f409f343
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/misc/dialog/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+{ stdenv, fetchurl, ncurses, gettext
+, withLibrary ? false, libtool
+, unicodeSupport ? true
+}:
+
+let optional = stdenv.lib.optional;
+    optStr = stdenv.lib.optionalString;
+    buildShared = !stdenv.isDarwin;
+in
+
+assert withLibrary -> libtool != null;
+assert unicodeSupport -> ncurses.unicode && ncurses != null;
+
+stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
+  name = "dialog-${version}";
+  version = "1.2-20150225";
+
+  src = fetchurl {
+    url = "ftp://invisible-island.net/dialog/${name}.tgz";
+    sha256 = "6844b13a7a1fea568a8d5bb3004e1af90888cd4a5e8c2ded2c38f34fcc7397ff";
+  };
+
+  buildInputs = [ ncurses ];
+
+  configureFlags = ''
+    --disable-rpath-hacks
+    ${optStr withLibrary "--with-libtool"}
+    --with-libtool-opts=${optStr buildShared "-shared"}
+    --with-ncurses${optStr unicodeSupport "w"}
+  '';
+
+  installTargets = "install${optStr withLibrary "-full"}";
+
+  meta = {
+    homepage = http://invisible-island.net/dialog/dialog.html;
+    description = "Display dialog boxes from shell";
+    license = stdenv.lib.licenses.lgpl21Plus;
+    maintainers = [ stdenv.lib.maintainers.spacefrogg ];
+    platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.all;
+  };
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 480864fb9e2..a014ee2b633 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -827,6 +827,8 @@ let
     inherit (haskellngPackages) ghcWithPackages diagrams-builder;
   };
 
+  dialog = callPackage ../development/tools/misc/dialog { };
+
   direnv = callPackage ../tools/misc/direnv { };
 
   discount = callPackage ../tools/text/discount { };