diff --git a/pkgs/tools/archivers/7zz/update.sh b/pkgs/tools/archivers/7zz/update.sh
index bbc9804799ab..1a6d38ea6097 100755
--- a/pkgs/tools/archivers/7zz/update.sh
+++ b/pkgs/tools/archivers/7zz/update.sh
@@ -1,13 +1,14 @@
 #! /usr/bin/env nix-shell
-#! nix-shell -i bash -p coreutils gnused curl jq
+#! nix-shell -i bash -p coreutils gnused curl jq nix-prefetch
 set -euo pipefail
 cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")"
 
 DRV_DIR="$PWD"
 
 OLD_VERSION="$(sed -nE 's/\s*version = "(.*)".*/\1/p' ./default.nix)"
-
-NEW_VERSION="$(curl "https://sourceforge.net/projects/sevenzip/best_release.json" | jq '.platform_releases.linux.filename' -r | cut -d/ -f3)"
+# The best_release.json is not always up-to-date
+# In those cases you can force the version by calling `./update.sh <newer_version>`
+NEW_VERSION="${1:-$(curl 'https://sourceforge.net/projects/sevenzip/best_release.json' | jq '.platform_releases.linux.filename' -r | cut -d/ -f3)}"
 
 echo "comparing versions $OLD_VERSION => $NEW_VERSION"
 if [[ "$OLD_VERSION" == "$NEW_VERSION" ]]; then