diff --git a/pkgs/applications/misc/gnuradio/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/misc/gnuradio/default.nix
index 29409a2e6f24..41466fa6fc02 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/misc/gnuradio/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/misc/gnuradio/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ stdenv, fetchurl, makeWrapper
+{ stdenv, fetchurl, writeText, makeWrapper
 # Dependencies documented @ https://gnuradio.org/doc/doxygen/build_guide.html
 # => core dependencies
 , cmake, pkgconfig, git, boost, cppunit, fftw
@@ -55,6 +55,16 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
         --replace BOOST_CONSTEXPR_OR_CONST const
   '';
 
+  # Enables composition with nix-shell
+  grcSetupHook = writeText "grcSetupHook.sh" ''
+    addGRCBlocksPath() {
+      addToSearchPath GRC_BLOCKS_PATH $1/share/gnuradio/grc/blocks
+    }
+    envHooks+=(addGRCBlocksPath)
+  '';
+
+  setupHook = [ grcSetupHook ];
+
   preConfigure = ''
     export NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE="$NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE -Wno-unused-variable -std=c++11"
   '';