diff --git a/pkgs/development/octave-modules/control/default.nix b/pkgs/development/octave-modules/control/default.nix
index 4ba5c2f90799..afc3976c2eef 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/octave-modules/control/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/octave-modules/control/default.nix
@@ -6,17 +6,19 @@
   lapack,
   blas,
   autoreconfHook,
+  nix-update-script,
 }:
 
 buildOctavePackage rec {
   pname = "control";
-  version = "3.6.1";
+  version = "4.2.1";
 
   src = fetchFromGitHub {
     owner = "gnu-octave";
     repo = "pkg-control";
-    tag = "control-${version}";
-    sha256 = "sha256-7beEsdrne50NY4lGCotxGXwwWnMzUR2CKCc20OCjd0g=";
+    tag = "${pname}-${version}";
+    fetchSubmodules = true;
+    sha256 = "sha256-NOZi003brDQ5nVyP7w5n7hxhafbiBwMPErhhTQhn2bw=";
   };
 
   # Running autoreconfHook inside the src directory fixes a compile issue about
@@ -41,6 +43,13 @@ buildOctavePackage rec {
     blas
   ];
 
+  passthru.updateScript = nix-update-script {
+    extraArgs = [
+      "--version-regex"
+      "control-(.*)"
+    ];
+  };
+
   meta = {
     homepage = "https://gnu-octave.github.io/packages/control/";
     license = lib.licenses.gpl3Plus;