diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/hdf4/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/hdf4/default.nix
index 99acda6b788..98cd0cfbdee 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/hdf4/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/hdf4/default.nix
@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@
 , uselibtirpc ? stdenv.isLinux
 , libtirpc
 , zlib
-, szip ? null
+, szipSupport ? false
+, szip
 , javaSupport ? false
 , jdk
 }:
@@ -55,10 +56,10 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   buildInputs = [
     libjpeg
-    szip
     zlib
   ]
   ++ lib.optional javaSupport jdk
+  ++ lib.optional szipSupport szip
   ++ lib.optional uselibtirpc libtirpc;
 
   preConfigure = lib.optionalString uselibtirpc ''
@@ -66,7 +67,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     substituteInPlace config/cmake/FindXDR.cmake \
       --replace 'find_path(XDR_INCLUDE_DIR NAMES rpc/types.h PATHS "/usr/include" "/usr/include/tirpc")' \
                 'find_path(XDR_INCLUDE_DIR NAMES rpc/types.h PATH_SUFFIXES include/tirpc)'
-  '' + lib.optionalString (szip != null) ''
+  '' + lib.optionalString szipSupport ''
     export SZIP_INSTALL=${szip}
   '';
 
@@ -85,7 +86,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     "-DJAVA_HOME=${jdk}"
     "-DJAVA_AWT_LIBRARY=${javabase}/libawt.so"
     "-DJAVA_JVM_LIBRARY=${javabase}/server/libjvm.so"
-  ] ++ lib.optionals (szip != null) [
+  ] ++ lib.optionals szipSupport [
     "-DHDF4_ENABLE_SZIP_ENCODING=ON"
     "-DHDF4_ENABLE_SZIP_SUPPORT=ON"
   ];
@@ -119,6 +120,17 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     moveToOutput bin "$bin"
   '';
 
+  passthru = {
+    inherit
+      uselibtirpc
+      libtirpc
+      szipSupport
+      szip
+      javaSupport
+      jdk
+    ;
+  };
+
   meta = with lib; {
     description = "Data model, library, and file format for storing and managing data";
     homepage = "https://support.hdfgroup.org/products/hdf4/";
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 9728ae4ce92..672c80ea17c 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -5969,9 +5969,7 @@ with pkgs;
 
   hddtemp = callPackage ../tools/misc/hddtemp { };
 
-  hdf4 = callPackage ../tools/misc/hdf4 {
-    szip = null;
-  };
+  hdf4 = callPackage ../tools/misc/hdf4 { };
 
   hdf5 = callPackage ../tools/misc/hdf5 {
     gfortran = null;