diff --git a/pkgs/tools/archivers/sharutils/4.6.3.nix b/pkgs/tools/archivers/sharutils/4.6.3.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index cd70550117a..00000000000
--- a/pkgs/tools/archivers/sharutils/4.6.3.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,14 +0,0 @@
-{ stdenv, fetchurl }:
-
-stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
-  name = "sharutils-4.6.3";
-
-  src = fetchurl {
-    url = "mirror://gnu/sharutils/REL-4.6.3/${name}.tar.bz2";
-    sha256 = "1sirrzas8llcsd8gnh56pns39wa1f803vff1kmy5islfi1p9vqk8";
-  };
-
-  meta = {
-    homepage = http://www.gnu.org/software/sharutils;
-  };
-}
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/archivers/sharutils/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/archivers/sharutils/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..72265b4ae1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/tools/archivers/sharutils/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+{ stdenv, fetchurl }:
+
+stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
+  name = "sharutils-4.8";
+
+  src = fetchurl {
+    url = "mirror://gnu/sharutils/${name}.tar.bz2";
+    sha256 = "19nlbzwlr93f7bam51rsqyj3z3sd65x32zhwxc9dgdgzcbggncnm";
+  };
+
+  meta = {
+    description = "GNU Sharutils, tools for remote synchronization and `shell archives'";
+
+    longDescription =
+      '' GNU shar makes so-called shell archives out of many files, preparing
+         them for transmission by electronic mail services.  A shell archive
+         is a collection of files that can be unpacked by /bin/sh.  A wide
+         range of features provide extensive flexibility in manufacturing
+         shars and in specifying shar smartness.  For example, shar may
+         compress files, uuencode binary files, split long files and
+         construct multi-part mailings, ensure correct unsharing order, and
+         provide simplistic checksums.
+
+         GNU unshar scans a set of mail messages looking for the start of
+         shell archives.  It will automatically strip off the mail headers
+         and other introductory text.  The archive bodies are then unpacked
+         by a copy of the shell. unshar may also process files containing
+         concatenated shell archives.
+      '';
+
+    homepage = http://www.gnu.org/software/sharutils/;
+
+    license = "GPLv3+";
+
+    maintainers = [ stdenv.lib.maintainers.ludo ];
+    platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.all;
+  };
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index f4a40db8196..22ad5a3d4d0 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -1506,7 +1506,7 @@ let
     inherit groff;
   };
 
-  sharutils = import ../tools/archivers/sharutils/4.6.3.nix {
+  sharutils = import ../tools/archivers/sharutils {
     inherit fetchurl stdenv;
   };