diff --git a/nix-dist/build+upload.sh b/nix-dist/build+upload.sh
index 3461756b4122..142cdca48404 100755
--- a/nix-dist/build+upload.sh
+++ b/nix-dist/build+upload.sh
@@ -9,11 +9,16 @@ if ! rev=$(curl --silent -k https://svn.cs.uu.nl:12443/repos/trace/nix/trunk/ \
 
 echo $rev > head-revision.nix
 
-if ! storeexpr=$(nix-instantiate -vvv do-it.nix); then exit 1; fi
+if ! storeexprs=($(nix-instantiate -vvv do-it.nix)); then exit 1; fi
 
-if ! nix-store -vvvv -r "$storeexpr" > /dev/null; then exit 1; fi
+srcexpr=${storeexprs[0]}
+testexpr=${storeexprs[1]}
 
-if ! outpath=$(nix-store -qn "$storeexpr"); then exit 1; fi
+if ! nix-store -vvvv -r "$srcexpr" > /dev/null; then exit 1; fi
+
+if ! nix-store -vvvv -r "$testexpr" > /dev/null; then exit 1; fi
+
+if ! outpath=$(nix-store -qn "$srcexpr"); then exit 1; fi
 
 uploader="http://losser.st-lab.cs.uu.nl/~eelco/cgi-bin/upload.pl/"
 
diff --git a/nix-dist/do-it.nix b/nix-dist/do-it.nix
index 3c6da166d95b..9288fd17f23b 100644
--- a/nix-dist/do-it.nix
+++ b/nix-dist/do-it.nix
@@ -16,5 +16,11 @@ let {
     rev = import ./head-revision.nix;
   };
 
-  body = sourcedist;
+  testbuild = (import ./nix-test-build.nix) {
+    stdenv = stdenv;
+    getopt = pkgs.getopt;
+    src = sourcedist;
+  };
+
+  body = [sourcedist testbuild];
 }
diff --git a/nix-dist/nix-test-build.nix b/nix-dist/nix-test-build.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..6fa7f271607a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nix-dist/nix-test-build.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+{stdenv, getopt, src}:
+
+derivation {
+  name = "nix-test-build";
+  system = stdenv.system;
+
+  builder = ./nix-test-build.sh;
+  src = src;
+
+  stdenv = stdenv;
+  getopt = getopt; # required by sdf2table
+}
diff --git a/nix-dist/nix-test-build.sh b/nix-dist/nix-test-build.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000000..55ccb9b2e5f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nix-dist/nix-test-build.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+#! /bin/sh
+
+buildinputs="$getopt"
+. $stdenv/setup || exit 1
+
+tar xvfj $src/*.tar.bz2 || exit 1
+cd nix-* || exit 1
+./configure --prefix=$out || exit 1
+make || exit 1
+make check || exit 1
+make install || exit 1