diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/hdf4/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/hdf4/default.nix
index 6553c1c70d65..c57b6f19b71f 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/hdf4/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/hdf4/default.nix
@@ -1,99 +1,114 @@
-{ lib
-, stdenv
-, fetchpatch
-, fetchurl
-, fixDarwinDylibNames
-, cmake
-, libjpeg
-, uselibtirpc ? stdenv.hostPlatform.isLinux
-, libtirpc
-, zlib
-, szipSupport ? false
-, szip
-, javaSupport ? false
-, jdk
-, fortranSupport ? false
-, gfortran
-, netcdfSupport ? false
+{
+  lib,
+  stdenv,
+  fetchpatch,
+  fetchurl,
+  fixDarwinDylibNames,
+  cmake,
+  libjpeg,
+  uselibtirpc ? stdenv.hostPlatform.isLinux,
+  libtirpc,
+  zlib,
+  szipSupport ? false,
+  szip,
+  javaSupport ? false,
+  jdk,
+  fortranSupport ? false,
+  gfortran,
+  netcdfSupport ? false,
 }:
-stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
+
+stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
   pname = "hdf";
   version = "4.2.15";
+
   src = fetchurl {
-    url = "https://support.hdfgroup.org/ftp/HDF/releases/HDF${version}/src/hdf-${version}.tar.bz2";
-    sha256 = "04nbgfxyj5jg4d6sr28162cxbfwqgv0sa7vz1ayzvm8wbbpkbq5x";
+    url = "https://support.hdfgroup.org/ftp/HDF/releases/HDF${finalAttrs.version}/src/hdf-${finalAttrs.version}.tar.bz2";
+    hash = "sha256-veA171oc1f29Cn8fpcF+mLvVmTABiaxNI08W6bt7yxI=";
   };
 
   patches = [
     # Note that the PPC, SPARC and s390 patches are only needed so the aarch64 patch applies cleanly
     (fetchpatch {
       url = "https://src.fedoraproject.org/rpms/hdf/raw/edbe5f49646b609f5bc9aeeee5a2be47e9556e8c/f/hdf-ppc.patch";
-      sha256 = "0dbbfpsvvqzy9zyfv38gd81zzc44gxjib9sd8scxqnkkqprj6jq0";
+      hash = "sha256-AEsj88VzWtyZRk2nFWV/hLD/A2oPje38T/7jvfV1azU=";
     })
     (fetchpatch {
       url = "https://src.fedoraproject.org/rpms/hdf/raw/edbe5f49646b609f5bc9aeeee5a2be47e9556e8c/f/hdf-4.2.4-sparc.patch";
-      sha256 = "0ip4prcjpa404clm87ib7l71605mws54x9492n9pbz5yb51r9aqh";
+      hash = "sha256-EKuUQ1m+/HWTFYmkTormtQATDj0rHlQpI4CoK1m+5EY=";
     })
     (fetchpatch {
       url = "https://src.fedoraproject.org/rpms/hdf/raw/edbe5f49646b609f5bc9aeeee5a2be47e9556e8c/f/hdf-s390.patch";
-      sha256 = "0aiqbr4s1l19y3r3y4wjd5fkv9cfc8rlr4apbh1p0d57wyvqa7i3";
+      hash = "sha256-Ix6Ft+enNHADXFeRTDNijqU9XWmSEz/y8CnQoEleOCo=";
     })
     (fetchpatch {
       url = "https://src.fedoraproject.org/rpms/hdf/raw/edbe5f49646b609f5bc9aeeee5a2be47e9556e8c/f/hdf-arm.patch";
-      sha256 = "157k1avvkpf3x89m1fv4a1kgab6k3jv74rskazrmjivgzav4qaw3";
+      hash = "sha256-gytMtvpvR1nzV1NncrYc0yz1ZlBku1AT6sPdubcK85Q=";
     })
     (fetchpatch {
       url = "https://src.fedoraproject.org/rpms/hdf/raw/edbe5f49646b609f5bc9aeeee5a2be47e9556e8c/f/hdf-aarch64.patch";
-      sha256 = "112svcsilk16ybbsi8ywnxfl2p1v44zh3rfn4ijnl8z08vfqrvvs";
+      hash = "sha256-eu+M3UbgI2plJNblAT8hO1xBXbfco6jX8iZMGjXbWoQ=";
     })
     ./darwin-aarch64.patch
   ];
 
-  nativeBuildInputs = [
-    cmake
-  ] ++ lib.optionals stdenv.hostPlatform.isDarwin [
-    fixDarwinDylibNames
-  ] ++ lib.optional fortranSupport gfortran;
+  nativeBuildInputs =
+    [
+      cmake
+    ]
+    ++ lib.optionals stdenv.hostPlatform.isDarwin [
+      fixDarwinDylibNames
+    ]
+    ++ lib.optional fortranSupport gfortran;
 
-  buildInputs = [
-    libjpeg
-    zlib
-  ]
-  ++ lib.optional javaSupport jdk
-  ++ lib.optional szipSupport szip
-  ++ lib.optional uselibtirpc libtirpc;
+  buildInputs =
+    [
+      libjpeg
+      zlib
+    ]
+    ++ lib.optional javaSupport jdk
+    ++ lib.optional szipSupport szip
+    ++ lib.optional uselibtirpc libtirpc;
 
-  preConfigure = lib.optionalString uselibtirpc ''
-    # Make tirpc discovery work with CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH
-    substituteInPlace config/cmake/FindXDR.cmake \
-      --replace 'find_path(XDR_INCLUDE_DIR NAMES rpc/types.h PATHS "/usr/include" "/usr/include/tirpc")' \
-                'find_path(XDR_INCLUDE_DIR NAMES rpc/types.h PATH_SUFFIXES include/tirpc)'
-  '' + lib.optionalString szipSupport ''
-    export SZIP_INSTALL=${szip}
-  '';
+  preConfigure =
+    lib.optionalString uselibtirpc ''
+      # Make tirpc discovery work with CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH
+      substituteInPlace config/cmake/FindXDR.cmake \
+        --replace-fail 'find_path(XDR_INCLUDE_DIR NAMES rpc/types.h PATHS "/usr/include" "/usr/include/tirpc")' \
+                       'find_path(XDR_INCLUDE_DIR NAMES rpc/types.h PATH_SUFFIXES include/tirpc)'
+    ''
+    + lib.optionalString szipSupport ''
+      export SZIP_INSTALL=${szip}
+    '';
 
-  cmakeFlags = [
-    "-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON"
-    "-DHDF4_BUILD_TOOLS=ON"
-    "-DHDF4_BUILD_UTILS=ON"
-    "-DHDF4_BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_NAME=OFF"
-    "-DHDF4_ENABLE_JPEG_LIB_SUPPORT=ON"
-    "-DHDF4_ENABLE_NETCDF=${if netcdfSupport then "ON" else "OFF"}"
-    "-DHDF4_ENABLE_Z_LIB_SUPPORT=ON"
-    "-DJPEG_DIR=${libjpeg}"
-  ] ++ lib.optionals javaSupport [
-    "-DHDF4_BUILD_JAVA=ON"
-    "-DJAVA_HOME=${jdk}"
-  ] ++ lib.optionals szipSupport [
-    "-DHDF4_ENABLE_SZIP_ENCODING=ON"
-    "-DHDF4_ENABLE_SZIP_SUPPORT=ON"
-  ] ++ (if fortranSupport
-  then [
-    "-DHDF4_BUILD_FORTRAN=ON"
-    "-DCMAKE_Fortran_FLAGS=-fallow-argument-mismatch"
-  ]
-  else [ "-DHDF4_BUILD_FORTRAN=OFF" ]
-  );
+  cmakeFlags =
+    [
+      (lib.cmakeBool "BUILD_SHARED_LIBS" true)
+      (lib.cmakeBool "HDF4_BUILD_TOOLS" true)
+      (lib.cmakeBool "HDF4_BUILD_UTILS" true)
+      (lib.cmakeBool "HDF4_BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_NAME" false)
+      (lib.cmakeBool "HDF4_ENABLE_JPEG_LIB_SUPPORT" true)
+      (lib.cmakeBool "HDF4_ENABLE_Z_LIB_SUPPORT" true)
+      (lib.cmakeBool "HDF4_ENABLE_NETCD" netcdfSupport)
+      (lib.cmakeBool "HDF4_BUILD_FORTRAN" fortranSupport)
+      (lib.cmakeBool "HDF4_ENABLE_SZIP_SUPPORT" szipSupport)
+      (lib.cmakeBool "HDF4_ENABLE_SZIP_ENCODING" szipSupport)
+      (lib.cmakeBool "HDF4_BUILD_JAVA" javaSupport)
+      (lib.cmakeBool "BUILD_TESTING" finalAttrs.doCheck)
+    ]
+    ++ lib.optionals javaSupport [
+      (lib.cmakeFeature "JAVA_HOME" "${jdk}")
+    ]
+    ++ lib.optionals fortranSupport [
+      (lib.cmakeFeature "CMAKE_Fortran_FLAGS" "-fallow-argument-mismatch")
+    ]
+    # using try_run would set these, but that requires a cross-compiling emulator to be available
+    # instead, we mark them as if the try_run calls returned a non-zero exit code
+    ++ lib.optionals (!stdenv.buildPlatform.canExecute stdenv.hostPlatform) [
+      (lib.cmakeFeature "TEST_LFS_WORKS_RUN" "1")
+      (lib.cmakeFeature "H4_PRINTF_LL_TEST_RUN" "1")
+      (lib.cmakeFeature "H4_PRINTF_LL_TEST_RUN__TRYRUN_OUTPUT" "")
+    ];
 
   env = lib.optionalAttrs stdenv.cc.isClang {
     NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE = toString [
@@ -102,7 +117,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     ];
   };
 
-  doCheck = true;
+  doCheck = stdenv.buildPlatform.canExecute stdenv.hostPlatform;
 
   excludedTests = lib.optionals stdenv.hostPlatform.isDarwin [
     "MFHDF_TEST-hdftest"
@@ -113,7 +128,9 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   checkPhase =
     let
-      excludedTestsRegex = lib.optionalString (excludedTests != [ ]) "(${lib.concatStringsSep "|" excludedTests})";
+      excludedTestsRegex = lib.optionalString (
+        finalAttrs.excludedTests != [ ]
+      ) "(${lib.concatStringsSep "|" finalAttrs.excludedTests})";
     in
     ''
       runHook preCheck
@@ -121,7 +138,11 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
       runHook postCheck
     '';
 
-  outputs = [ "bin" "dev" "out" ];
+  outputs = [
+    "bin"
+    "dev"
+    "out"
+  ];
 
   postInstall = ''
     moveToOutput bin "$bin"
@@ -145,4 +166,4 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     platforms = platforms.unix;
     license = licenses.bsdOriginal;
   };
-}
+})