diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/db/db-4.8.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/db/db-4.8.nix
index 6a161b0b72d..78c0a15c4e0 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/db/db-4.8.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/db/db-4.8.nix
@@ -5,4 +5,5 @@ import ./generic.nix (args // rec {
   extraPatches = [ ./clang-4.8.patch ];
   sha256 = "0ampbl2f0hb1nix195kz1syrqqxpmvnvnfvphambj7xjrl3iljg0";
   branch = "4.8";
+  drvArgs = { hardening_format = false; };
 })
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/db/generic.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/db/generic.nix
index f5ee4e440ff..fdc828effdf 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/db/generic.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/db/generic.nix
@@ -7,9 +7,10 @@
 , extraPatches ? [ ]
 , license ? stdenv.lib.licenses.sleepycat
 , branch ? null
+, drvArgs ? {}
 }:
 
-stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
+stdenv.mkDerivation (rec {
   name = "db-${version}";
 
   src = fetchurl {
@@ -42,4 +43,4 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     platforms = platforms.unix;
     branch = branch;
   };
-}
+} // drvArgs)