diff --git a/pkgs/tools/networking/netrw/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/networking/netrw/default.nix
index c90546393598..eb03377fc52f 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/networking/netrw/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/networking/netrw/default.nix
@@ -1,9 +1,23 @@
-{ stdenv, fetchurl }:
+{ stdenv, fetchurl
+, checksumType ? "built-in"
+, libmhash ? null
+, openssl ? null
+}:
+
+assert checksumType == "mhash" -> libmhash != null;
+assert checksumType == "openssl" -> openssl != null;
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   name = "netrw-${version}";
   version = "1.3.2";
 
+  configureFlags = [
+    "--with-checksum=${checksumType}"
+  ];
+
+  buildInputs = stdenv.lib.optional (checksumType == "mhash") libmhash
+             ++ stdenv.lib.optional (checksumType == "openssl") openssl;
+
   src = fetchurl {
     urls = [
       "http://mamuti.net/files/netrw/netrw-${version}.tar.bz2"