diff --git a/corepkgs/unpack-channel.nix b/corepkgs/unpack-channel.nix
index bbc54c7d1e..57d5a09a07 100644
--- a/corepkgs/unpack-channel.nix
+++ b/corepkgs/unpack-channel.nix
@@ -6,19 +6,23 @@ let
     ''
       mkdir $out
       cd $out
-      ${bzip2} -d < $src | ${tar} xf - --warning=no-timestamp 
+      ${bzip2} -d < $src | ${tar} xf - --warning=no-timestamp
       mv * $out/$channelName
+      if [ -n "$binaryCacheURL" ]; then
+        mkdir $out/binary-caches
+        echo -n "$binaryCacheURL" > $out/binary-caches/$channelName
+      fi
     '';
 
 in
 
-{ name, channelName, src }:
+{ name, channelName, src, binaryCacheURL ? "" }:
 
 derivation {
   system = builtins.currentSystem;
   builder = shell;
   args = [ "-e" builder ];
-  inherit name channelName src;
+  inherit name channelName src binaryCacheURL;
 
   PATH = "${nixBinDir}:${coreutils}";
 
diff --git a/doc/manual/conf-file.xml b/doc/manual/conf-file.xml
index c09d46206a..ae167fb787 100644
--- a/doc/manual/conf-file.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/conf-file.xml
@@ -329,6 +329,18 @@ build-use-chroot = /dev /proc /bin</programlisting>
   </varlistentry>
 
 
+  <varlistentry><term><literal>binary-caches-files</literal></term>
+
+    <listitem><para>A list of names of files that will be read to
+    obtain additional binary cache URLs.  The default is
+    <literal>/nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/binary-caches/*</literal>,
+    which ensures that Nix will use the binary caches corresponding to
+    the channels installed by root.  Do not set this option to read
+    files created by untrusted users!</para></listitem>
+
+  </varlistentry>
+
+
   <varlistentry><term><literal>trusted-binary-caches</literal></term>
 
     <listitem><para>A list of URLs of binary caches, separated by
diff --git a/scripts/download-from-binary-cache.pl.in b/scripts/download-from-binary-cache.pl.in
index f7f1f73460..76306405cc 100644
--- a/scripts/download-from-binary-cache.pl.in
+++ b/scripts/download-from-binary-cache.pl.in
@@ -176,6 +176,16 @@ sub getAvailableCaches {
         ($Nix::Config::config{"binary-caches"}
          // ($Nix::Config::storeDir eq "/nix/store" ? "http://nixos.org/binary-cache" : ""));
 
+    my $urlsFiles = $Nix::Config::config{"binary-cache-files"}
+        // "/nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/binary-caches/*";
+    foreach my $urlFile (glob $urlsFiles) {
+        next unless -f $urlFile;
+        open FILE, "<$urlFile" or die "cannot open ‘$urlFile’\n";
+        my $url = <FILE>; chomp $url;
+        close FILE;
+        push @urls, strToList($url);
+    }
+
     # Allow Nix daemon users to override the binary caches to a subset
     # of those listed in the config file.  Note that ‘untrusted-*’
     # denotes options passed by the client.
diff --git a/scripts/nix-channel.in b/scripts/nix-channel.in
index e7a4b0900e..e057cc9167 100755
--- a/scripts/nix-channel.in
+++ b/scripts/nix-channel.in
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ my $nixDefExpr = "$home/.nix-defexpr";
 my $userName = getpwuid($<) or die "cannot figure out user name";
 my $profile = "$Nix::Config::stateDir/profiles/per-user/$userName/channels";
 mkpath(dirname $profile, 0, 0755);
-    
+
 my %channels;
 
 
@@ -77,20 +77,14 @@ sub removeChannel {
 # channels.
 sub update {
     my @channelNames = @_;
-        
+
     readChannels;
 
-    # Create the manifests directory if it doesn't exist.
-    mkdir $manifestDir, 0755 unless -e $manifestDir;
-
-    # Do we have write permission to the manifests directory?
-    die "$0: you do not have write permission to `$manifestDir'!\n" unless -W $manifestDir;
-
     # Download each channel.
     my $exprs = "";
     foreach my $name (keys %channels) {
         next if scalar @channelNames > 0 && ! grep { $_ eq $name } @{channelNames};
-        
+
         my $url = $channels{$name};
         my $origUrl = "$url/MANIFEST";
 
@@ -101,11 +95,20 @@ sub update {
         die "$0: unable to check `$url'\n" if $? != 0;
         $headers =~ s/\r//g;
         $url = $1 if $headers =~ /^Location:\s*(.*)\s*$/m;
-        
-        # Pull the channel manifest.
-        $ENV{'NIX_ORIG_URL'} = $origUrl;
-        system("$Nix::Config::binDir/nix-pull", "--skip-wrong-store", "$url/MANIFEST") == 0
-            or die "cannot pull manifest from `$url'\n";
+
+        # Check if the channel advertises a binary cache.
+        my $binaryCacheURL = `$Nix::Config::curl --silent '$url'/binary-cache-url`;
+        my $extraAttrs = "";
+        if ($? == 0 && $binaryCacheURL ne "") {
+            $extraAttrs .= "binaryCacheURL = \"$binaryCacheURL\"; ";
+        } else {
+            # No binary cache, so pull the channel manifest.
+            mkdir $manifestDir, 0755 unless -e $manifestDir;
+            die "$0: you do not have write permission to `$manifestDir'!\n" unless -W $manifestDir;
+            $ENV{'NIX_ORIG_URL'} = $origUrl;
+            system("$Nix::Config::binDir/nix-pull", "--skip-wrong-store", "$url/MANIFEST") == 0
+                or die "cannot pull manifest from `$url'\n";
+        }
 
         # Download the channel tarball.
         my $fullURL = "$url/nixexprs.tar.bz2";
@@ -120,7 +123,7 @@ sub update {
         my $cname = $name;
         $cname .= $1 if basename($url) =~ /(-\d.*)$/;
 
-        $exprs .= "'f: f { name = \"$cname\"; channelName = \"$name\"; src = builtins.storePath \"$path\"; }' ";
+        $exprs .= "'f: f { name = \"$cname\"; channelName = \"$name\"; src = builtins.storePath \"$path\"; $extraAttrs }' ";
     }
 
     # Unpack the channel tarballs into the Nix store and install them
@@ -189,7 +192,7 @@ while (scalar @ARGV) {
         update(@ARGV);
         last;
     }
-    
+
     elsif ($arg eq "--help") {
         usageError;
     }
@@ -198,7 +201,7 @@ while (scalar @ARGV) {
         print "nix-channel (Nix) $Nix::Config::version\n";
         exit 0;
     }
-    
+
     else {
         die "unknown argument `$arg'; try `--help'";
     }