diff --git a/src/nix/develop.cc b/src/nix/develop.cc
index 8fea7ee9c..457d94382 100644
--- a/src/nix/develop.cc
+++ b/src/nix/develop.cc
@@ -474,9 +474,9 @@ struct CmdDevelop : Common, MixEnvironment
             ignoreException();
         }
 
-        // If running a phase, don't want an interactive shell running after
+        // If running a phase or single command, don't want an interactive shell running after
         // Ctrl-C, so don't pass --rcfile
-        auto args = phase ? Strings{std::string(baseNameOf(shell)), rcFilePath}
+        auto args = phase || !command.empty() ? Strings{std::string(baseNameOf(shell)), rcFilePath}
             : Strings{std::string(baseNameOf(shell)), "--rcfile", rcFilePath};
 
         restoreAffinity();
diff --git a/tests/nix-shell.sh b/tests/nix-shell.sh
index 1228bb04f..7b2be650a 100644
--- a/tests/nix-shell.sh
+++ b/tests/nix-shell.sh
@@ -59,6 +59,12 @@ output=$($TEST_ROOT/shell.shebang.rb abc ruby)
 # Test 'nix develop'.
 nix develop -f shell.nix shellDrv -c bash -c '[[ -n $stdenv ]]'
 
+# Ensure `nix develop -c` preserves stdin
+echo foo | nix develop -f shell.nix shellDrv -c cat | grep -q foo
+
+# Ensure `nix develop -c` actually executes the command if stdout isn't a terminal
+nix develop -f shell.nix shellDrv -c echo foo |& grep -q foo
+
 # Test 'nix print-dev-env'.
 source <(nix print-dev-env -f shell.nix shellDrv)
 [[ -n $stdenv ]]