diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/libev/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/libev/default.nix
index 42d3b9435697..371c0b1d9809 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/libev/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/libev/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ stdenv, fetchurl }:
+{ stdenv, fetchurl, static ? false }:
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   pname = "libev";
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     sha256 = "0nkfqv69wfyy2bpga4d53iqydycpik8jp8x6q70353hia8mmv1gd";
   };
 
+  configureFlags = stdenv.lib.optional (static) "LDFLAGS=-static";
+
   meta = {
     description = "A high-performance event loop/event model with lots of features";
     maintainers = [ stdenv.lib.maintainers.raskin ];
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/static.nix b/pkgs/top-level/static.nix
index 40673426136a..09ea593857d4 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/static.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/static.nix
@@ -280,4 +280,6 @@ in {
   ) super.ocaml-ng;
 
   python27 = super.python27.override { static = true; };
+
+  libev = super.libev.override { static = true; };
 }