diff --git a/pkgs/applications/window-managers/yabar/build.nix b/pkgs/applications/window-managers/yabar/build.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..fbbfa5f0118d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/applications/window-managers/yabar/build.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+{ stdenv, fetchFromGitHub, cairo, gdk_pixbuf, libconfig, pango, pkgconfig
+, xcbutilwm, alsaLib, wirelesstools, asciidoc, libxslt, makeWrapper, docbook_xsl
+, configFile ? null, lib
+, rev, sha256, version
+}:
+
+stdenv.mkDerivation {
+  name = "yabar-${version}";
+
+  src = fetchFromGitHub {
+    inherit rev sha256;
+
+    owner = "geommer";
+    repo  = "yabar";
+  };
+
+  hardeningDisable = [ "format" ];
+
+  buildInputs = [
+    cairo gdk_pixbuf libconfig pango pkgconfig xcbutilwm docbook_xsl
+    alsaLib wirelesstools asciidoc libxslt makeWrapper
+  ];
+
+  postPatch = ''
+    substituteInPlace ./Makefile \
+      --replace "\$(shell git describe)" "${version}" \
+      --replace "a2x" "${asciidoc}/bin/a2x --no-xmllint"
+  '';
+
+  makeFlags = [ "DESTDIR=$(out)" "PREFIX=/" ];
+
+  postInstall = ''
+    mkdir -p $out/share/yabar/examples
+    cp -v examples/*.config $out/share/yabar/examples
+
+    ${lib.optionalString (configFile != null)
+      ''
+        wrapProgram "$out/bin/yabar" \
+          --add-flags "-c ${configFile}"
+      ''
+    }
+  '';
+
+  meta = with stdenv.lib; {
+    description = "A modern and lightweight status bar for X window managers";
+    homepage    = https://github.com/geommer/yabar;
+    license     = licenses.mit;
+    platforms   = platforms.linux;
+    maintainers = with maintainers; [ ma27 ];
+  };
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/window-managers/yabar/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/window-managers/yabar/default.nix
index 34d424252530..4d42e3082f35 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/window-managers/yabar/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/window-managers/yabar/default.nix
@@ -1,38 +1,10 @@
-{ stdenv, fetchFromGitHub, cairo, gdk_pixbuf, libconfig, pango, pkgconfig, xcbutilwm }:
+{ callPackage, attrs ? {} }:
 
-stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
-  name    = "yabar-${version}";
-  version = "0.4.0";
+let
+  overrides = {
+    version = "0.4.0";
 
-  src = fetchFromGitHub {
-    owner  = "geommer";
-    repo   = "yabar";
-    rev    = "746387f0112f9b7aa2e2e27b3d69cb2892d8c63b";
+    rev = "746387f0112f9b7aa2e2e27b3d69cb2892d8c63b";
     sha256 = "1nw9dar1caqln5fr0dqk7dg6naazbpfwwzxwlkxz42shsc3w30a6";
-  };
-
-  buildInputs = [ cairo gdk_pixbuf libconfig pango pkgconfig xcbutilwm ];
-
-  hardeningDisable = [ "format" ];
-
-  postPatch = ''
-    substituteInPlace ./Makefile --replace "\$(shell git describe)" "${version}"
-  '';
-
-  buildPhase = ''
-    make DESTDIR=$out PREFIX=/
-  '';
-
-  installPhase = ''
-    make DESTDIR=$out PREFIX=/ install
-    mkdir -p $out/share/yabar/examples
-    cp -v examples/*.config $out/share/yabar/examples
-  '';
-
-  meta = with stdenv.lib; {
-    description = "A modern and lightweight status bar for X window managers";
-    homepage    = "https://github.com/geommer/yabar";
-    license     = licenses.mit;
-    platforms   = platforms.linux;
-  };
-}
+  } // attrs;
+in callPackage ./build.nix overrides
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/window-managers/yabar/unstable.nix b/pkgs/applications/window-managers/yabar/unstable.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..6baa7ae5c036
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/applications/window-managers/yabar/unstable.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+{ callPackage, attrs ? {} }:
+
+let
+  overrides = {
+    version = "unstable-2017-09-09";
+
+    rev    = "d3934344ba27f5bdf122bf74daacee6d49284dab";
+    sha256 = "14zrlzva8i83ffg426mrf6yli8afwq6chvc7yi78ngixyik5gzhx";
+  } // attrs;
+in callPackage ./build.nix overrides
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index ab6b17403a4c..585a03890e3e 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -17119,6 +17119,8 @@ with pkgs;
 
   yabar = callPackage ../applications/window-managers/yabar { };
 
+  yabar-unstable = callPackage ../applications/window-managers/yabar/unstable.nix { };
+
   yakuake = libsForQt5.callPackage ../applications/misc/yakuake {
     inherit (kdeApplications) konsole;
   };