diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/rust/build-rust-crate/configure-crate.nix b/pkgs/build-support/rust/build-rust-crate/configure-crate.nix
index be4bbbe06dc9..060ce25df8db 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/rust/build-rust-crate/configure-crate.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/rust/build-rust-crate/configure-crate.nix
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ let
   completeDepsDir = lib.concatStringsSep " " completeDeps;
   completeBuildDepsDir = lib.concatStringsSep " " completeBuildDeps;
   envFeatures = lib.concatStringsSep " " (
-    map (f: lib.replaceStrings [ "-" ] [ "_" ] (lib.toUpper f)) crateFeatures
+    map (f: "CARGO_FEATURE_${lib.replaceStrings [ "-" ] [ "_" ] (lib.toUpper f)}=1") crateFeatures
   );
 in
 ''
@@ -206,11 +206,10 @@ in
      (
        # Features should be set as environment variable for build scripts:
        # https://doc.rust-lang.org/cargo/reference/environment-variables.html#environment-variables-cargo-sets-for-build-scripts
-       for feature in ${envFeatures}; do
-         export CARGO_FEATURE_$feature=1
-       done
-
-       target/build/${crateName}/build_script_build | tee target/build/${crateName}.opt
+       #
+       # We use `env` instead of `export` because it's possible for a Cargo feature name to contain a character that Bash does
+       # not support for variables.
+       env ${envFeatures} target/build/${crateName}/build_script_build | tee target/build/${crateName}.opt
      )
 
      set +e
diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/rust/build-rust-crate/test/default.nix b/pkgs/build-support/rust/build-rust-crate/test/default.nix
index d5c56858c6a4..dafb3ce631d7 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/rust/build-rust-crate/test/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/rust/build-rust-crate/test/default.nix
@@ -477,6 +477,7 @@ rec {
           crateName = "build-script-feature-env";
           features = [
             "some-feature"
+            "some-c++17-thing"
             "crate/another_feature"
           ];
           src = symlinkJoin {
@@ -488,6 +489,10 @@ rec {
                 fn feature_not_visible() {
                   assert!(std::env::var("CARGO_FEATURE_SOME_FEATURE").is_err());
                   assert!(option_env!("CARGO_FEATURE_SOME_FEATURE").is_none());
+                  assert!(std::env::var("CARGO_FEATURE_SOME_C++17_THING").is_err());
+                  assert!(option_env!("CARGO_FEATURE_SOME_C++17_THING").is_none());
+                  assert!(std::env::var("CARGO_FEATURE_ANOTHER_FEATURE").is_err());
+                  assert!(option_env!("CARGO_FEATURE_ANOTHER_FEATURE").is_none());
                 }
                 fn main() {}
               '')
@@ -495,6 +500,10 @@ rec {
                 fn main() {
                   assert!(std::env::var("CARGO_FEATURE_SOME_FEATURE").is_ok());
                   assert!(option_env!("CARGO_FEATURE_SOME_FEATURE").is_none());
+                  assert!(std::env::var("CARGO_FEATURE_SOME_C++17_THING").is_ok());
+                  assert!(option_env!("CARGO_FEATURE_SOME_C++17_THING").is_none());
+                  assert!(std::env::var("CARGO_FEATURE_ANOTHER_FEATURE").is_err());
+                  assert!(option_env!("CARGO_FEATURE_ANOTHER_FEATURE").is_none());
                 }
               '')
             ];