diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/manual-config.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/manual-config.nix
index 5e6023582082..1d280647c5a1 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/manual-config.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/manual-config.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 { buildPackages, runCommand, nettools, bc, bison, flex, perl, rsync, gmp, libmpc, mpfr, openssl
+, pkgconfig ? null, ncurses ? null
 , libelf
 , utillinux
 , writeTextFile
@@ -265,6 +266,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation ((drvAttrs config stdenv.hostPlatform.platform kernelPatches
       ++ optional (stdenv.lib.versionAtLeast version "4.14") libelf
       ++ optional (stdenv.lib.versionAtLeast version "4.15") utillinux
       ++ optionals (stdenv.lib.versionAtLeast version "4.16") [ bison flex ]
+      ++ optionals stdenv.lib.inNixShell [ pkgconfig ncurses ]
       ;
 
   hardeningDisable = [ "bindnow" "format" "fortify" "stackprotector" "pic" ];