diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/release/nix-build.nix b/pkgs/build-support/release/nix-build.nix
index a32f0e07a0c..f734e1eefe5 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/release/nix-build.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/release/nix-build.nix
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 , lcovExtraTraceFiles ? []
 , src, stdenv
 , name ? if doCoverageAnalysis then "nix-coverage" else "nix-build"
+, failureHook ? null
 , ... } @ args:
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation (
@@ -37,7 +38,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (
         fi
       '';
 
-    failureHook = ''
+    failureHook = (stdenv.lib.optionalString (failureHook != null) failureHook) +
+    ''
       if test -n "$succeedOnFailure"; then
           if test -n "$keepBuildDirectory"; then
               KEEPBUILDDIR="$out/`basename $TMPDIR`"