diff --git a/perl/lib/Nix/Store.pm b/perl/lib/Nix/Store.pm
index 4283e77a45..1ae3b04b7e 100644
--- a/perl/lib/Nix/Store.pm
+++ b/perl/lib/Nix/Store.pm
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ our @EXPORT = qw(
     topoSortPaths computeFSClosure followLinksToStorePath exportPaths
     hashPath hashFile hashString
     addToStore makeFixedOutputPath
+    derivationFromPath
 );
 
 our $VERSION = '0.15';
diff --git a/perl/lib/Nix/Store.xs b/perl/lib/Nix/Store.xs
index f8a577fce8..8ca72b62a3 100644
--- a/perl/lib/Nix/Store.xs
+++ b/perl/lib/Nix/Store.xs
@@ -216,3 +216,45 @@ SV * makeFixedOutputPath(int recursive, char * algo, char * hash, char * name)
         } catch (Error & e) {
             croak(e.what());
         }
+
+
+SV * derivationFromPath(char * drvPath)
+    PREINIT:
+        HV *hash;
+    CODE:
+        try {
+            doInit();
+            Derivation drv = derivationFromPath(*store, drvPath);
+            hash = newHV();
+            
+            /* TODO: handle drv.outputs */
+            
+            AV * inputDrvs = newAV();
+            for (DerivationInputs::iterator i = drv.inputDrvs.begin(); i != drv.inputDrvs.end(); ++i)
+                av_push(inputDrvs, newSVpv(i->first.c_str(), 0)); // !!! ignores i->second
+            hv_stores(hash, "inputDrvs", newRV((SV *) inputDrvs));
+            
+            AV * inputSrcs = newAV();
+            for (PathSet::iterator i = drv.inputSrcs.begin(); i != drv.inputSrcs.end(); ++i)
+                av_push(inputSrcs, newSVpv(i->c_str(), 0));
+            hv_stores(hash, "inputSrcs", newRV((SV *) inputSrcs));
+            
+            hv_stores(hash, "platform", newSVpv(drv.platform.c_str(), 0));
+            hv_stores(hash, "builder", newSVpv(drv.builder.c_str(), 0));
+            
+            AV * args = newAV();
+            for (Strings::iterator i = drv.args.begin(); i != drv.args.end(); ++i)
+                av_push(args, newSVpv(i->c_str(), 0));
+            hv_stores(hash, "args", newRV((SV *) args));
+            
+            HV * env = newHV();
+            for (StringPairs::iterator i = drv.env.begin(); i != drv.env.end(); ++i)
+                hv_store(env, i->first.c_str(), i->first.size(), newSVpv(i->second.c_str(), 0), 0);
+            hv_stores(hash, "env", newRV((SV *) env));
+            
+            RETVAL = newRV_noinc((SV *)hash);
+        } catch (Error & e) {
+            croak(e.what());
+        }
+    OUTPUT:
+        RETVAL
diff --git a/scripts/nix-build.in b/scripts/nix-build.in
index 5cbcd11396..b36ec0208b 100755
--- a/scripts/nix-build.in
+++ b/scripts/nix-build.in
@@ -2,11 +2,13 @@
 
 use strict;
 use Nix::Config;
+use Nix::Store;
 use File::Temp qw(tempdir);
 
 
 my $dryRun = 0;
 my $verbose = 0;
+my $runEnv = 0;
 
 my @instArgs = ();
 my @buildArgs = ();
@@ -119,6 +121,10 @@ EOF
         push @instArgs, $arg;
     }
     
+    elsif ($arg eq "--run-env") {
+        $runEnv = 1;
+    }
+    
     elsif (substr($arg, 0, 1) eq "-") {
         push @buildArgs, $arg;
     }
@@ -143,6 +149,29 @@ foreach my $expr (@exprs) {
         exit 1;
     }
 
+    if ($runEnv) {
+        die "$0: ‘--run-env’ requires a single derivation\n" if scalar @drvPaths != 1;
+        my $drvPath = readlink $drvPaths[0] or die "cannot read symlink `$drvPaths[0]'";
+        my $drv = derivationFromPath($drvPath);
+
+        # Build or fetch all dependencies of the derivation.
+        system("$Nix::Config::binDir/nix-store -r @buildArgs @{$drv->{inputDrvs}} @{$drv->{inputSrcs}} > /dev/null") == 0
+            or die "$0: failed to build all dependencies\n";
+
+        # Set the environment.
+        $ENV{'NIX_BUILD_TOP'} = $ENV{'TMPDIR'} || "/tmp";
+        foreach (keys %{$drv->{env}}) {
+            $ENV{$_} = $drv->{env}->{$_};
+        }
+
+        # Run a shell using the derivation's environment.  For
+        # convenience, source $stdenv/setup to setup additional
+        # environment variables.  Also don't lose the current $PATH
+        # directories.
+        exec($ENV{SHELL}, "-c", "p=\$PATH; source \$stdenv/setup; PATH=\$PATH:\$p; exec $ENV{SHELL}");
+        die;
+    }
+
     foreach my $drvPath (@drvPaths) {
         my $target = readlink $drvPath or die "cannot read symlink `$drvPath'";
         print STDERR "derivation is $target\n" if $verbose;