diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/php/5.3.nix b/pkgs/development/interpreters/php/5.3.nix
index 683ba73f8b0d..8dcb82b755f0 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/interpreters/php/5.3.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/php/5.3.nix
@@ -143,6 +143,10 @@ composableDerivation.composableDerivation {} ( fixed : let inherit (fixed.fixed)
         configureFlags = ["--enable-zip"];
       };
 
+      ftp = {
+        configureFlags = ["--enable-ftp"];
+      };
+
       /*
          php is build within this derivation in order to add the xdebug lines to the php.ini.
          So both Apache and command line php both use xdebug without having to configure anything.
@@ -180,6 +184,7 @@ composableDerivation.composableDerivation {} ( fixed : let inherit (fixed.fixed)
     mcryptSupport = config.php.mcrypt or false;
     bz2Support = config.php.bz2 or false;
     zipSupport = config.php.zip or true;
+    ftpSupport = config.php.ftp or true;
   };
 
   configurePhase = ''