diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/elf-header/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/elf-header/default.nix
index 48e5b73d9e72..ab8c217dce43 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/elf-header/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/elf-header/default.nix
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ stdenvNoCC.mkDerivation {
   '';
 
   meta = libc.meta // {
+    outputsToInstall = [ "out" ];
     description = "The datastructures of ELF according to the target platform's libc";
     longDescription = ''
 	  The Executable and Linkable Format (ELF, formerly named Extensible Linking
diff --git a/pkgs/stdenv/generic/check-meta.nix b/pkgs/stdenv/generic/check-meta.nix
index a5c8ca705231..28b69f5c2dc9 100644
--- a/pkgs/stdenv/generic/check-meta.nix
+++ b/pkgs/stdenv/generic/check-meta.nix
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ let
     unsupported = remediate_whitelist "UnsupportedSystem";
     blacklisted = x: "";
     insecure = remediate_insecure;
+    broken-outputs = remediateOutputsToInstall;
     unknown-meta = x: "";
   };
   remediate_whitelist = allow_attr: attrs:
@@ -125,6 +126,20 @@ let
 
       '';
 
+  remediateOutputsToInstall = attrs: let
+      expectedOutputs = attrs.meta.outputsToInstall or [];
+      actualOutputs = attrs.outputs or [ "out" ];
+      missingOutputs = builtins.filter (output: ! builtins.elem output actualOutputs) expectedOutputs;
+    in ''
+      The package ${attrs.name} has set meta.outputsToInstall to: ${builtins.concatStringsSep ", " expectedOutputs}
+
+      however ${attrs.name} only has the outputs: ${builtins.concatStringsSep ", " actualOutputs}
+
+      and is missing the following ouputs:
+
+      ${lib.concatStrings (builtins.map (output: "  - ${output}\n") missingOutputs)}
+    '';
+
   handleEvalIssue = attrs: { reason , errormsg ? "" }:
     let
       msg = ''
@@ -185,6 +200,14 @@ let
     in  anyMatch (attrs.meta.platforms or lib.platforms.all) &&
       ! anyMatch (attrs.meta.badPlatforms or []);
 
+  checkOutputsToInstall = attrs: let
+      expectedOutputs = attrs.meta.outputsToInstall or [];
+      actualOutputs = attrs.outputs or [ "out" ];
+      missingOutputs = builtins.filter (output: ! builtins.elem output actualOutputs) expectedOutputs;
+    in if shouldCheckMeta
+       then builtins.length missingOutputs > 0
+       else false;
+
   # Check if a derivation is valid, that is whether it passes checks for
   # e.g brokenness or license.
   #
@@ -202,6 +225,8 @@ let
       { valid = false; reason = "unsupported"; errormsg = "is not supported on ‘${hostPlatform.config}’"; }
     else if !(hasAllowedInsecure attrs) then
       { valid = false; reason = "insecure"; errormsg = "is marked as insecure"; }
+    else if checkOutputsToInstall attrs then
+      { valid = false; reason = "broken-outputs"; errormsg = "has invalid meta.outputsToInstall"; }
     else let res = checkMeta (attrs.meta or {}); in if res != [] then
       { valid = false; reason = "unknown-meta"; errormsg = "has an invalid meta attrset:${lib.concatMapStrings (x: "\n\t - " + x) res}"; }
     else { valid = true; };