diff --git a/pkgs/servers/http/nginx/generic.nix b/pkgs/servers/http/nginx/generic.nix
index 80bc1458ad7a..6ec5b0a78510 100644
--- a/pkgs/servers/http/nginx/generic.nix
+++ b/pkgs/servers/http/nginx/generic.nix
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 , withDebug ? false
 , withStream ? true
 , withMail ? false
+, withPerl ? true
 , modules ? []
 , ...
 }:
@@ -87,7 +88,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   ] ++ optionals withMail [
     "--with-mail"
     "--with-mail_ssl_module"
-  ] ++ optional (perl != null) [
+  ] ++ optionals withPerl [
     "--with-http_perl_module"
     "--with-perl=${perl}/bin/perl"
     "--with-perl_modules_path=lib/perl5"
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 072c892ccd60..7159c101d387 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -15847,14 +15847,14 @@ in
   nginx = nginxStable;
 
   nginxStable = callPackage ../servers/http/nginx/stable.nix {
-    perl = null;
+    withPerl = false;
     # We don't use `with` statement here on purpose!
     # See https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/10474/files#r42369334
     modules = [ nginxModules.rtmp nginxModules.dav nginxModules.moreheaders ];
   };
 
   nginxMainline = callPackage ../servers/http/nginx/mainline.nix {
-    perl = null;
+    withPerl = false;
     # We don't use `with` statement here on purpose!
     # See https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/10474/files#r42369334
     modules = [ nginxModules.dav nginxModules.moreheaders ];