diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/php/5.2.nix b/pkgs/development/interpreters/php/5.2.nix
index 8063b1a55124..077c1ae7d7da 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/interpreters/php/5.2.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/php/5.2.nix
@@ -44,6 +44,11 @@ composableDerivation {} ( fixed : let inherit (fixed.fixed) version; in {
           ];
         buildInputs = [ libxml2 ];
       };
+
+      readline = {
+        configureFlags = ["--with-readline=${readline}"];
+        buildInputs = [ readline ];
+      };
     
       sqlite = {
         configureFlags = ["--with-pdo-sqlite=${sqlite}"];
@@ -126,6 +131,7 @@ composableDerivation {} ( fixed : let inherit (fixed.fixed) version; in {
     curlSupport = getConfig ["php" "curl"] true;
     gettextSupport = getConfig ["php" "gettext"] true;
     postgresqlSupport = getConfig ["php" "postgresql"] true;
+    readlineSupport = getConfig ["php" "readline"] true;
     sqliteSupport = getConfig ["php" "sqlite"] true;
     soapSupport = getConfig ["php" "soap"] true;
     zlibSupport = getConfig ["php" "zlib"] true;
diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/php/5.3.nix b/pkgs/development/interpreters/php/5.3.nix
index 1037d00f270f..d34e4f6cc04a 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/interpreters/php/5.3.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/php/5.3.nix
@@ -45,6 +45,11 @@ composableDerivation {} ( fixed : let inherit (fixed.fixed) version; in {
         buildInputs = [ libxml2 ];
       };
     
+      readline = {
+        configureFlags = ["--with-readline=${readline}"];
+        buildInputs = [ readline ];
+      };
+
       sqlite = {
         configureFlags = ["--with-pdo-sqlite=${sqlite}"];
         buildInputs = [ sqlite ];
@@ -126,6 +131,7 @@ composableDerivation {} ( fixed : let inherit (fixed.fixed) version; in {
     curlSupport = getConfig ["php" "curl"] true;
     gettextSupport = getConfig ["php" "gettext"] true;
     postgresqlSupport = getConfig ["php" "postgresql"] true;
+    readlineSupport = getConfig ["php" "readline"] true;
     sqliteSupport = getConfig ["php" "sqlite"] true;
     soapSupport = getConfig ["php" "soap"] true;
     zlibSupport = getConfig ["php" "zlib"] true;
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 44a593bc2e61..990cf528a1a2 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -2363,14 +2363,14 @@ let
   php5_2 = makeOverridable (import ../development/interpreters/php/5.2.nix) {
     inherit
       stdenv fetchurl lib composableDerivation autoconf automake
-      flex bison apacheHttpd mysql libxml2
+      flex bison apacheHttpd mysql libxml2 readline
       zlib curl gd postgresql openssl pkgconfig sqlite getConfig libiconv libjpeg libpng;
   };
 
   php5_3 = makeOverridable (import ../development/interpreters/php/5.3.nix) {
     inherit
       stdenv fetchurl lib composableDerivation autoconf automake
-      flex bison apacheHttpd mysql libxml2
+      flex bison apacheHttpd mysql libxml2 readline
       zlib curl gd postgresql openssl pkgconfig sqlite getConfig libiconv libjpeg libpng;
   };