diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index 653cacded00d..7311a2471b27 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -324,9 +324,26 @@
             ''
               mkdir -p $out/nix-support
 
+              # Converts /nix/store/50p3qk8kka9dl6wyq40vydq945k0j3kv-nix-2.4pre20201102_550e11f/bin/nix
+              # To 50p3qk8kka9dl6wyq40vydq945k0j3kv/bin/nix
+              tarballPath() {
+                # Remove the store prefix
+                local path=''${1#${builtins.storeDir}/}
+                # Get the path relative to the derivation root
+                local rest=''${path#*/}
+                # Get the derivation hash
+                local drvHash=''${path%%-*}
+                echo "$drvHash/$rest"
+              }
+
               substitute ${./scripts/install.in} $out/install \
                 ${pkgs.lib.concatMapStrings
-                  (system: "--replace '@binaryTarball_${system}@' $(nix --experimental-features nix-command hash-file --base16 --type sha256 ${self.hydraJobs.binaryTarball.${system}}/*.tar.xz) ")
+                  (system:
+                    '' \
+                    --replace '@tarballHash_${system}@' $(nix --experimental-features nix-command hash-file --base16 --type sha256 ${self.hydraJobs.binaryTarball.${system}}/*.tar.xz) \
+                    --replace '@tarballPath_${system}@' $(tarballPath ${self.hydraJobs.binaryTarball.${system}}/*.tar.xz) \
+                    ''
+                  )
                   [ "x86_64-linux" "i686-linux" "x86_64-darwin" "aarch64-linux" ]
                 } \
                 --replace '@nixVersion@' ${version}
diff --git a/scripts/install-nix-from-closure.sh b/scripts/install-nix-from-closure.sh
index 2de41a6a4a2b..6352a8facbac 100644
--- a/scripts/install-nix-from-closure.sh
+++ b/scripts/install-nix-from-closure.sh
@@ -98,6 +98,9 @@ while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
                 echo ""
                 echo " --nix-extra-conf-file: Path to nix.conf to prepend when installing /etc/nix.conf"
                 echo ""
+                if [ -n "${INVOKED_FROM_INSTALL_IN:-}" ]; then
+                    echo " --tarball-url-prefix URL: Base URL to download the Nix tarball from."
+                fi
             ) >&2
 
             # darwin and Catalina+
diff --git a/scripts/install.in b/scripts/install.in
index 9a281d776384..8ae4ffcdab1d 100644
--- a/scripts/install.in
+++ b/scripts/install.in
@@ -25,18 +25,47 @@ require_util() {
 }
 
 case "$(uname -s).$(uname -m)" in
-    Linux.x86_64) system=x86_64-linux; hash=@binaryTarball_x86_64-linux@;;
-    Linux.i?86) system=i686-linux; hash=@binaryTarball_i686-linux@;;
-    Linux.aarch64) system=aarch64-linux; hash=@binaryTarball_aarch64-linux@;;
-    Darwin.x86_64) system=x86_64-darwin; hash=@binaryTarball_x86_64-darwin@;;
-    # eventually maybe: system=arm64-darwin; hash=@binaryTarball_arm64-darwin@;;
-    Darwin.arm64) system=x86_64-darwin; hash=@binaryTarball_x86_64-darwin@;;
+    Linux.x86_64)
+        hash=@tarballHash_x86_64-linux@
+        path=@tarballPath_x86_64-linux@
+        system=x86_64-linux
+        ;;
+    Linux.i?86)
+        hash=@tarballHash_i686-linux@
+        path=@tarballPath_i686-linux@
+        system=i686-linux
+        ;;
+    Linux.aarch64)
+        hash=@tarballHash_aarch64-linux@
+        path=@tarballPath_aarch64-linux@
+        system=aarch64-linux
+        ;;
+    Darwin.x86_64)
+        hash=@tarballHash_x86_64-darwin@
+        path=@tarballPath_x86_64-darwin@
+        system=x86_64-darwin
+        ;;
+    Darwin.arm64)
+        # eventually maybe: system=arm64-darwin
+        system=x86_64-darwin
+        path=@tarballPath_x86_64-darwin@
+        hash=@binaryTarball_x86_64-darwin@
+        ;;
     *) oops "sorry, there is no binary distribution of Nix for your platform";;
 esac
 
-url="https://releases.nixos.org/nix/nix-@nixVersion@/nix-@nixVersion@-$system.tar.xz"
+# Use this command-line option to fetch the tarballs using nar-serve or Cachix
+if "${1:---tarball-url-prefix}"; then
+    if [ -z "${2:-}" ]; then
+        oops "missing argument for --tarball-url-prefix"
+    fi
+    url=${2}/${path}
+    shift 2
+else
+    url=https://releases.nixos.org/nix/nix-@nixVersion@/nix-@nixVersion@-$system.tar.xz
+fi
 
-tarball="$tmpDir/$(basename "$tmpDir/nix-@nixVersion@-$system.tar.xz")"
+tarball=$tmpDir/nix-@nixVersion@-$system.tar.xz
 
 require_util curl "download the binary tarball"
 require_util tar "unpack the binary tarball"
@@ -68,6 +97,7 @@ tar -xJf "$tarball" -C "$unpack" || oops "failed to unpack '$url'"
 script=$(echo "$unpack"/*/install)
 
 [ -e "$script" ] || oops "installation script is missing from the binary tarball!"
+export INVOKED_FROM_INSTALL_IN=1
 "$script" "$@"
 
 } # End of wrapping