diff --git a/pkgs/tools/security/sudo/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/security/sudo/default.nix
index ab46af5a1cd..23b7241ace0 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/security/sudo/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/security/sudo/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
-{ stdenv, fetchurl, coreutils, pam, groff }:
+{ stdenv, fetchurl, coreutils, pam, groff
+, sendmailPath ? "/var/setuid-wrappers/sendmail"
+}:
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   name = "sudo-1.8.10p3";
@@ -17,6 +19,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     "--with-rundir=/var/run"
     "--with-vardir=/var/db/sudo"
     "--with-logpath=/var/log/sudo.log"
+    "--with-sendmail=${sendmailPath}"
   ];
 
   postConfigure =