diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/exa/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/exa/default.nix
index d26eb8f45ae..c49f11a72a9 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/exa/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/exa/default.nix
@@ -1,28 +1,55 @@
-{ stdenv, fetchFromGitHub, rustPlatform, openssl, cmake, zlib }:
+{ stdenv, fetchFromGitHub, rustPlatform, openssl, cmake, perl, pkgconfig, zlib }:
 
 with rustPlatform;
 
-buildRustPackage rec {
-  name = "exa-${version}";
-  version = "2016-04-20";
+let
+  # check for updates
+  zoneinfo_compiled = fetchFromGitHub {
+    owner = "rust-datetime";
+    repo = "zoneinfo-compiled";
+    rev = "f56921ea5e9f7cf065b1480ff270a1757c1f742f";
+    sha256 = "1xmw7c5f5n45lkxnyxp4llfv1bnqhc876w98165ccdbbiylfkw26";
+  };
+  cargoPatch = ''
+    # use non-git dependencies
+    patch -p1 <<EOF
+   --- exa-v0.4.1-src.org/Cargo.toml       1970-01-01 01:00:01.000000000 +0100
+   +++ exa-v0.4.1-src/Cargo.toml   2017-04-04 10:33:31.554377034 +0200
+   @@ -42,4 +42,4 @@
+    optional = true
 
-  # NOTE: There is an impurity caused by `exa` depending on
-  # https://github.com/rust-datetime/zoneinfo-compiled.git
-  depsSha256 = "0qsqkgc1wxigvskhaamgfp5pyc2kprsikhcfccysgs07w44nxkd0";
+    [dependencies.zoneinfo_compiled]
+   -git = "https://github.com/rust-datetime/zoneinfo-compiled.git"
+   +path = "${zoneinfo_compiled}"
+EOF
+  '';
+in buildRustPackage rec {
+  name = "exa-unstable-2017-04-02";
+
+  depsSha256 = "0szjba03q4iwzjzb2dp39hhz554ys4z11qdhcdq1mgxqk94scjf4";
 
   src = fetchFromGitHub {
     owner = "ogham";
     repo = "exa";
-    rev = "110a1c716bfc4a7f74f74b3c4f0a881c773fcd06";
-    sha256 = "136yxi85m50vwmqinr1wnd0h29n5yjykqqqk9ibbcmmhx8sqhjzf";
+    rev = "1a6066327d2643881996946942aba530e8a1c67c";
+    sha256 = "1xrsg3zw5d3sw2bwx8g0lrs6zpk8rdrvvnknf7c9drp7rplmd8zq";
   };
 
-  nativeBuildInputs = [ cmake ];
+  nativeBuildInputs = [ cmake pkgconfig perl ];
   buildInputs = [ openssl zlib ];
 
   # Some tests fail, but Travis ensures a proper build
   doCheck = false;
 
+  cargoUpdateHook = ''
+    ${cargoPatch}
+  '';
+  cargoDepsHook = ''
+    pushd $sourceRoot
+    ${cargoPatch}
+    popd
+  '';
+
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
     description = "Replacement for 'ls' written in Rust";
     longDescription = ''
@@ -36,6 +63,5 @@ buildRustPackage rec {
     homepage = http://bsago.me/exa;
     license = licenses.mit;
     maintainer = [ maintainers.ehegnes ];
-    broken = true;
   };
 }