diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/hdf5/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/hdf5/default.nix
index 43b3a3240e65..5cdc468c2a5a 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/hdf5/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/hdf5/default.nix
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 , zlib ? null
 , szip ? null
 , mpi ? null
+, enableShared ? true
 }:
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   version = "1.8.13";
@@ -28,6 +29,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   configureFlags = "
     ${if szip != null then "--with-szlib=${szip}" else ""}
     ${if mpi != null then "--enable-parallel" else ""}
+    ${if enableShared then "--enable-shared" else ""}
   ";
   
   patches = [./bin-mv.patch];