diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/libtar/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/libtar/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..7a8dfa7a6227
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/libtar/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+{ stdenv, fetchgit, autoreconfHook }:
+
+stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
+  version = "1.2.20";
+  name = "libtar-${version}";
+  
+  # Maintenance repo for libtar (Arch Linux uses this)
+  src = fetchgit {
+    url = "git://repo.or.cz/libtar.git";
+    rev = "refs/tags/v${version}";
+    sha256 = "1pjsqnqjaqgkzf1j8m6y5h76bwprffsjjj6gk8rh2fjsha14rqn9";
+  };
+
+  buildInputs = [ autoreconfHook ];
+
+  meta = with stdenv.lib; {
+    description = "C library for manipulating POSIX tar files";
+    homepage = http://www.feep.net/libtar/;
+    license = licenses.bsd3;
+    platforms = platforms.linux;
+    maintainers = [ maintainers.bjornfor ];
+  };
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 5c367ee75b68..967c097dbd00 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -5502,6 +5502,8 @@ let
 
   libspatialite = callPackage ../development/libraries/libspatialite { };
 
+  libtar = callPackage ../development/libraries/libtar { };
+
   libtasn1 = callPackage ../development/libraries/libtasn1 { };
 
   libtheora = callPackage ../development/libraries/libtheora { };