diff --git a/default.nix b/default.nix
index 98e23d8..f895933 100644
--- a/default.nix
+++ b/default.nix
@@ -1,13 +1,16 @@
+{ static ? false # whether to build fully static binaries
+}:
+
 let
 
-  nixpkgs = builtins.fetchTarball
+  nixpkgs = import (builtins.fetchTarball
     { url = "https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/archive/f12ee5f64c6a.tar.gz";
       sha256 = "14afxk35w3kbqimxcp39ngv9cqpc24glss1727ymk4napfg5v7hm";
-    };
+    }) { };
 
-  pkgs = import <nixpkgs> { };
+  pkgs = if static then nixpkgs.pkgsStatic else nixpkgs;
 
-  magnetico = { lib, buildGoModule, nixosTests, sqlite }:
+  magnetico = { lib, stdenv, buildGoModule, nixosTests, sqlite }:
     buildGoModule {
       pname = "magnetico";
       version = "0.12.1";
@@ -21,6 +24,8 @@ let
       tags = [ "fts5" "libsqlite3" ];
       ldflags = [ "-s" "-w" ];
 
+      doCheck = !stdenv.hostPlatform.isStatic;
+
       passthru.tests = { inherit (nixosTests) magnetico; };
 
       meta = with lib; {