diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/erlang/generic-builder.nix b/pkgs/development/interpreters/erlang/generic-builder.nix
index 538b4224909c..f78c8e937b49 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/interpreters/erlang/generic-builder.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/erlang/generic-builder.nix
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 , javacSupport ? false, javacPackages ? [ openjdk8 ]
 , odbcSupport ? false, odbcPackages ? [ unixODBC ]
 , withSystemd ? stdenv.isLinux # systemd support in epmd
+, opensslPackage ? openssl
 , wxPackages ? [ libGL libGLU wxGTK xorg.libX11 ]
 , preUnpack ? "", postUnpack ? ""
 , patches ? [], patchPhase ? "", prePatch ? "", postPatch ? ""
@@ -52,7 +53,7 @@ in stdenv.mkDerivation ({
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [ autoconf makeWrapper perl gnum4 libxslt libxml2 ];
 
-  buildInputs = [ ncurses openssl ]
+  buildInputs = [ ncurses opensslPackage ]
     ++ optionals wxSupport wxPackages2
     ++ optionals odbcSupport odbcPackages
     ++ optionals javacSupport javacPackages
@@ -81,7 +82,7 @@ in stdenv.mkDerivation ({
     ./otp_build autoconf
   '';
 
-  configureFlags = [ "--with-ssl=${openssl.dev}" ]
+  configureFlags = [ "--with-ssl=${opensslPackage.dev}" ]
     ++ optional enableThreads "--enable-threads"
     ++ optional enableSmpSupport "--enable-smp-support"
     ++ optional enableKernelPoll "--enable-kernel-poll"