diff --git a/src/nix-build/nix-build.cc b/src/nix-build/nix-build.cc
index 471bcc10d..0400f94f5 100755
--- a/src/nix-build/nix-build.cc
+++ b/src/nix-build/nix-build.cc
@@ -98,8 +98,8 @@ static void _main(int argc, char * * argv)
 
     // List of environment variables kept for --pure
     std::set<string> keepVars{
-        "HOME", "USER", "LOGNAME", "DISPLAY", "PATH", "TERM",
-        "IN_NIX_SHELL", "TZ", "PAGER", "NIX_BUILD_SHELL", "SHLVL",
+        "HOME", "USER", "LOGNAME", "DISPLAY", "PATH", "TERM", "IN_NIX_SHELL",
+        "NIX_SHELL_PRESERVE_PROMPT", "TZ", "PAGER", "NIX_BUILD_SHELL", "SHLVL",
         "http_proxy", "https_proxy", "ftp_proxy", "all_proxy", "no_proxy"
     };
 
@@ -446,7 +446,7 @@ static void _main(int argc, char * * argv)
                 "PATH=%4%:\"$PATH\"; "
                 "SHELL=%5%; "
                 "set +e; "
-                R"s([ -n "$PS1" ] && PS1='\n\[\033[1;32m\][nix-shell:\w]\$\[\033[0m\] '; )s"
+                R"s([ -n "$PS1" -a -z "$NIX_SHELL_PRESERVE_PROMPT" ] && PS1='\n\[\033[1;32m\][nix-shell:\w]\$\[\033[0m\] '; )s"
                 "if [ \"$(type -t runHook)\" = function ]; then runHook shellHook; fi; "
                 "unset NIX_ENFORCE_PURITY; "
                 "shopt -u nullglob; "