diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/hdf5/1.10.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/hdf5/1.10.nix
index 4e57a1c8e48a..74d8fce599a8 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/hdf5/1.10.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/hdf5/1.10.nix
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
-{ lib, stdenv
+{ lib
+, stdenv
 , fetchurl
 , removeReferencesTo
-, zlib ? null
+, zlibSupport ? true
+, zlib
 , enableShared ? !stdenv.hostPlatform.isStatic
 , javaSupport ? false
 , jdk
@@ -24,10 +26,9 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [ removeReferencesTo ];
 
-  propagatedBuildInputs = optional (zlib != null) zlib;
+  propagatedBuildInputs = optional zlibSupport zlib;
 
-  configureFlags = []
-    ++ optional enableShared "--enable-shared"
+  configureFlags = optional enableShared "--enable-shared"
     ++ optional javaSupport "--enable-java";
 
   patches = [
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/hdf5/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/hdf5/default.nix
index c5485a5b3fb1..43c156de419e 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/hdf5/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/hdf5/default.nix
@@ -1,10 +1,14 @@
-{ lib, stdenv
+{ lib
+, stdenv
 , fetchurl
 , removeReferencesTo
-, cpp ? false
-, gfortran ? null
-, zlib ? null
-, szip ? null
+, cppSupport ? false
+, fortranSupport ? false
+, fortran
+, zlibSupport ? true
+, zlib
+, szipSupport ? false
+, szip
 , mpiSupport ? false
 , mpi
 , enableShared ? !stdenv.hostPlatform.isStatic
@@ -15,7 +19,7 @@
 
 # cpp and mpi options are mutually exclusive
 # (--enable-unsupported could be used to force the build)
-assert !cpp || !mpiSupport;
+assert !cppSupport || !mpiSupport;
 
 let inherit (lib) optional optionals; in
 
@@ -28,28 +32,35 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   };
 
   passthru = {
-    inherit mpiSupport;
-    inherit mpi;
+    inherit
+      cppSupport
+      fortranSupport
+      fortran
+      zlibSupport
+      zlib
+      szipSupport
+      szip
+      mpiSupport
+      mpi
+      ;
   };
 
   outputs = [ "out" "dev" ];
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [ removeReferencesTo ]
-    ++ optional (gfortran != null) gfortran;
+    ++ optional fortranSupport fortran;
 
-  buildInputs = []
-    ++ optional (szip != null) szip
+  buildInputs = optional fortranSupport fortran
+    ++ optional szipSupport szip
     ++ optional javaSupport jdk;
 
-  propagatedBuildInputs = []
-    ++ optional (zlib != null) zlib
+  propagatedBuildInputs = optional zlibSupport zlib
     ++ optional mpiSupport mpi;
 
-  configureFlags = []
-    ++ optional cpp "--enable-cxx"
-    ++ optional (gfortran != null) "--enable-fortran"
-    ++ optional (szip != null) "--with-szlib=${szip}"
-    ++ optionals mpiSupport ["--enable-parallel" "CC=${mpi}/bin/mpicc"]
+  configureFlags = optional cppSupport "--enable-cxx"
+    ++ optional fortranSupport "--enable-fortran"
+    ++ optional szipSupport "--with-szlib=${szip}"
+    ++ optionals mpiSupport [ "--enable-parallel" "CC=${mpi}/bin/mpicc" ]
     ++ optional enableShared "--enable-shared"
     ++ optional javaSupport "--enable-java"
     ++ optional usev110Api "--with-default-api-version=v110";
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 672c80ea17c2..97b1ee0721fc 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -5972,23 +5972,22 @@ with pkgs;
   hdf4 = callPackage ../tools/misc/hdf4 { };
 
   hdf5 = callPackage ../tools/misc/hdf5 {
-    gfortran = null;
-    szip = null;
+    fortranSupport = false;
+    fortran = gfortran;
   };
 
   hdf5_1_10 = callPackage ../tools/misc/hdf5/1.10.nix { };
 
   hdf5-mpi = appendToName "mpi" (hdf5.override {
-    szip = null;
     mpiSupport = true;
   });
 
   hdf5-cpp = appendToName "cpp" (hdf5.override {
-    cpp = true;
+    cppSupport = true;
   });
 
   hdf5-fortran = appendToName "fortran" (hdf5.override {
-    inherit gfortran;
+    fortranSupport = true;
   });
 
   hdf5-threadsafe = appendToName "threadsafe" (hdf5.overrideAttrs (oldAttrs: {