diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/nano/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/nano/default.nix
index 2e48eadb0a23..1c0238451995 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/nano/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/nano/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,12 @@
-{ stdenv, fetchurl, ncurses, gettext }:
+{ stdenv, fetchurl
+, ncurses
+, gettext ? null
+, enableNls ? false
+}:
+
+assert enableNls -> (gettext != null);
+
+with stdenv.lib;
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   name = "nano-${version}";
@@ -7,12 +15,13 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     url = "mirror://gnu/nano/${name}.tar.gz";
     sha256 = "1gbm9bcv4k55y01r5q8a8a9s3yrrgq3z5jxxiij3wl404r8gnxjh";
   };
-  buildInputs = [ ncurses gettext ];
+  buildInputs = [ ncurses ] ++ optional enableNls gettext;
   configureFlags = ''
     --sysconfdir=/etc
+    ${optionalString (!enableNls) "--disable-nls"}
   '';
 
-  meta = with stdenv.lib; {
+  meta = {
     homepage = http://www.nano-editor.org/;
     description = "A small, user-friendly console text editor";
     license = licenses.gpl3Plus;