diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/zlib/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/zlib/default.nix
index b4ae9e63ea08..95c891e9bc7a 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/zlib/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/zlib/default.nix
@@ -15,6 +15,10 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
     fi
   '';
 
+  crossAttrs = {
+    dontStrip = if static then true else false;
+  };
+
   # zlib doesn't like the automatic --disable-shared from the Cygwin stdenv.
   cygwinConfigureEnableShared = true;
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/networking/dropbear/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/networking/dropbear/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..986c9806591a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/tools/networking/dropbear/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+{ stdenv, fetchurl, zlib, enableStatic ? false }:
+
+stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
+  name = "dropbear-0.52";
+
+  src = fetchurl {
+    url = http://matt.ucc.asn.au/dropbear/releases/dropbear-0.52.tar.bz2;
+    sha256 = "1h84dwld8qm19m0a1zslm2ssz65nr93irw7p2h5fjrlh9ix74ywc";
+  };
+
+  dontDisableStatic = enableStatic;
+
+  configureFlags = stdenv.lib.optional enableStatic "LDFLAGS=-static";
+
+  buildInputs = [ zlib ];
+
+  meta = {
+    homepage = http://matt.ucc.asn.au/dropbear/dropbear.html;
+    description = "An small footprint implementation of the SSH 2 protocol";
+    license = "mit";
+  };
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 213c4d4e765e..ea0da3456724 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -630,6 +630,12 @@ let
     inherit builderDefs;
   };
 
+  dropbear = makeOverridable (import ../tools/networking/dropbear) {
+    inherit fetchurl stdenv;
+    enableStatic = true;
+    zlib = zlibStatic;
+  };
+
   duplicity = import ../tools/backup/duplicity {
     inherit fetchurl stdenv librsync gnupg makeWrapper python;
     inherit (pythonPackages) boto;
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/release-cross.nix b/pkgs/top-level/release-cross.nix
index 695ee1c38e6b..7d4173bd988b 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/release-cross.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/release-cross.nix
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ let
   basicHostDrv = {
     bison.hostDrv = nativePlatforms;
     busybox.hostDrv = nativePlatforms;
+    dropbear.hostDrv = nativePlatforms;
     tightvnc.hostDrv = nativePlatforms;
     #openoffice.hostDrv = nativePlatforms;
     wxGTK.hostDrv = nativePlatforms;