diff --git a/pkgs/development/compilers/ghc/8.10.7-binary.nix b/pkgs/development/compilers/ghc/8.10.7-binary.nix
index 94ad5a78a0a7..22552fa67fb2 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/compilers/ghc/8.10.7-binary.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/compilers/ghc/8.10.7-binary.nix
@@ -137,6 +137,7 @@ let
           # instead of `libtinfo.so.*.`
           { nixPackage = ncurses6; fileToCheckFor = "libncursesw.so.6"; }
         ];
+        isHadrian = true;
       };
     };
   };
@@ -416,6 +417,13 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
     # Our Cabal compiler name
     haskellCompilerName = "ghc-${version}";
+  } // lib.optionalAttrs (binDistUsed.isHadrian or false) {
+    # Normal GHC derivations expose the hadrian derivation used to build them
+    # here. In the case of bindists we just make sure that the attribute exists,
+    # as it is used for checking if a GHC derivation has been built with hadrian.
+    # The isHadrian mechanism will become obsolete with GHCs that use hadrian
+    # exclusively, i.e. 9.6 (and 9.4?).
+    hadrian = null;
   };
 
   meta = rec {