diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/tensorflow/1/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/tensorflow/1/default.nix
index 78843c612ee19d..1b7c338d2a12bb 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/tensorflow/1/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/tensorflow/1/default.nix
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 # it would also make the default tensorflow package unfree. See
 # https://groups.google.com/a/tensorflow.org/forum/#!topic/developers/iRCt5m4qUz0
 , cudaSupport ? false, nvidia_x11 ? null, cudatoolkit ? null, cudnn ? null, nccl ? null
+, mklSupport ? false, mkl ? null
 # XLA without CUDA is broken
 , xlaSupport ? cudaSupport
 # Default from ./configure script
@@ -36,6 +37,8 @@ assert cudaSupport -> nvidia_x11 != null
 # unsupported combination
 assert ! (stdenv.isDarwin && cudaSupport);
 
+assert mklSupport -> mkl != null;
+
 let
   withTensorboard = pythonOlder "3.6";
 
@@ -167,6 +170,8 @@ let
       cudatoolkit
       cudnn
       nvidia_x11
+    ] ++ lib.optionals mklSupport [
+      mkl
     ] ++ lib.optionals stdenv.isDarwin [
       Foundation
       Security
@@ -284,7 +289,8 @@ let
     ];
     bazelBuildFlags = [
       "--config=opt" # optimize using the flags set in the configure phase
-    ];
+    ]
+    ++ lib.optionals (mklSupport) [ "--config=mkl" ];
 
     bazelTarget = "//tensorflow/tools/pip_package:build_pip_package //tensorflow/tools/lib_package:libtensorflow";
 
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/tensorflow/2/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/tensorflow/2/default.nix
index 29430323084738..2867308f9c43f6 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/tensorflow/2/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/tensorflow/2/default.nix
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 # it would also make the default tensorflow package unfree. See
 # https://groups.google.com/a/tensorflow.org/forum/#!topic/developers/iRCt5m4qUz0
 , cudaSupport ? false, nvidia_x11 ? null, cudatoolkit ? null, cudnn ? null, nccl ? null
+, mklSupport ? false, mkl ? null
 # XLA without CUDA is broken
 , xlaSupport ? cudaSupport
 # Default from ./configure script
@@ -36,6 +37,8 @@ assert cudaSupport -> nvidia_x11 != null
 # unsupported combination
 assert ! (stdenv.isDarwin && cudaSupport);
 
+assert mklSupport -> mkl != null;
+
 let
   withTensorboard = pythonOlder "3.6";
 
@@ -163,6 +166,8 @@ let
       cudatoolkit
       cudnn
       nvidia_x11
+    ] ++ lib.optionals mklSupport [
+      mkl
     ] ++ lib.optionals stdenv.isDarwin [
       Foundation
       Security
@@ -278,7 +283,8 @@ let
     ];
     bazelBuildFlags = [
       "--config=opt" # optimize using the flags set in the configure phase
-    ];
+    ]
+    ++ lib.optionals (mklSupport) [ "--config=mkl" ];
 
     bazelTarget = "//tensorflow/tools/pip_package:build_pip_package //tensorflow/tools/lib_package:libtensorflow";