diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/science/math/mkl/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/science/math/mkl/default.nix
index 08644f7c2eff..89b30703d3d5 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/science/math/mkl/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/science/math/mkl/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ stdenvNoCC, fetchurl, rpmextract, undmg, darwin }:
+{ stdenvNoCC, fetchurl, rpm, cpio, undmg, darwin, enableStatic ? false }:
 /*
   For details on using mkl as a blas provider for python packages such as numpy,
   numexpr, scipy, etc., see the Python section of the NixPkgs manual.
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ in stdenvNoCC.mkDerivation {
     then
       [ undmg darwin.cctools ]
     else
-      [ rpmextract ];
+      [ rpm cpio ];
 
   buildPhase = if stdenvNoCC.isDarwin then ''
     for f in Contents/Resources/pkg/*.tgz; do
@@ -47,24 +47,28 @@ in stdenvNoCC.mkDerivation {
     done
   '' else ''
     # Common stuff
-    rpmextract rpm/intel-mkl-common-c-${rpm-ver}.noarch.rpm
-    rpmextract rpm/intel-mkl-common-f-${rpm-ver}.noarch.rpm
+    rpm2cpio rpm/intel-mkl-common-c-${rpm-ver}.noarch.rpm | cpio -idv
+    rpm2cpio rpm/intel-mkl-common-f-${rpm-ver}.noarch.rpm | cpio -idv
 
     # Dynamic libraries
-    rpmextract rpm/intel-mkl-cluster-rt-${rpm-ver}.x86_64.rpm
-    rpmextract rpm/intel-mkl-core-rt-${rpm-ver}.x86_64.rpm
-    rpmextract rpm/intel-mkl-gnu-f-rt-${rpm-ver}.x86_64.rpm
-    rpmextract rpm/intel-mkl-gnu-rt-${rpm-ver}.x86_64.rpm
-
-    # Static libraries
-    rpmextract rpm/intel-mkl-cluster-${rpm-ver}.x86_64.rpm
-    rpmextract rpm/intel-mkl-core-${rpm-ver}.x86_64.rpm
-    rpmextract rpm/intel-mkl-gnu-${rpm-ver}.x86_64.rpm
-    rpmextract rpm/intel-mkl-gnu-f-${rpm-ver}.x86_64.rpm
+    rpm2cpio rpm/intel-mkl-cluster-rt-${rpm-ver}.x86_64.rpm | cpio -idv
+    rpm2cpio rpm/intel-mkl-core-rt-${rpm-ver}.x86_64.rpm | cpio -idv
+    rpm2cpio rpm/intel-mkl-gnu-f-rt-${rpm-ver}.x86_64.rpm | cpio -idv
+    rpm2cpio rpm/intel-mkl-gnu-rt-${rpm-ver}.x86_64.rpm | cpio -idv
 
     # Intel OpenMP runtime
-    rpmextract rpm/intel-openmp-${openmp-ver}.x86_64.rpm
-  '';
+    rpm2cpio rpm/intel-openmp-${openmp-ver}.x86_64.rpm | cpio -idv
+  '' + (if enableStatic then ''
+    # Static libraries
+    rpm2cpio rpm/intel-mkl-core-${rpm-ver}.x86_64.rpm | cpio -idv
+    rpm2cpio rpm/intel-mkl-cluster-${rpm-ver}.x86_64.rpm | cpio -idv
+    rpm2cpio rpm/intel-mkl-gnu-${rpm-ver}.x86_64.rpm | cpio -idv
+    rpm2cpio rpm/intel-mkl-gnu-f-${rpm-ver}.x86_64.rpm | cpio -idv
+  '' else ''
+    # Extract the PkgConfig files for dynamic libraries only
+    rpm2cpio rpm/intel-mkl-core-${rpm-ver}.x86_64.rpm | cpio -idv '*dynamic*.pc'
+  ''
+  );
 
   installPhase = ''
     for f in $(find . -name 'mkl*.pc') ; do
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/static.nix b/pkgs/top-level/static.nix
index 687086b6ed3b..7736a265b947 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/static.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/static.nix
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ self: super: let
   removeUnknownConfigureFlags = f: with self.lib;
     remove "--disable-shared"
     (remove "--enable-static" f);
-  
+
   ocamlFixPackage = b:
     b.overrideAttrs (o: {
       configurePlatforms = [ ];
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ self: super: let
       buildInputs = o.buildInputs ++ o.nativeBuildInputs or [ ];
       propagatedNativeBuildInputs = o.propagatedBuildInputs or [ ];
     });
-  
+
   ocamlStaticAdapter = _: super:
     self.lib.mapAttrs
       (_: p: if p ? overrideAttrs then ocamlFixPackage p else p)
@@ -153,6 +153,7 @@ in {
     static = true;
   };
   openblas = super.openblas.override { enableStatic = true; };
+  mkl = super.mkl.override { enableStatic = true; };
   nix = super.nix.override { withAWS = false; };
   # openssl 1.1 doesn't compile
   openssl = super.openssl_1_0_2.override {
@@ -209,7 +210,7 @@ in {
   kmod = super.kmod.override {
     withStatic = true;
   };
-  
+
   curl = super.curl.override {
     # a very sad story: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=439039
     gssSupport = false;
@@ -241,6 +242,6 @@ in {
   ocaml-ng = self.lib.mapAttrs (_: set:
     if set ? overrideScope' then set.overrideScope' ocamlStaticAdapter else set
   ) super.ocaml-ng;
-  
+
   python27 = super.python27.override { static = true; };
 }