diff --git a/pkgs/development/web/nodejs/default.nix b/pkgs/development/web/nodejs/default.nix
index ee121d6788a1..56b8e952e804 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/web/nodejs/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/web/nodejs/default.nix
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 , pkgconfig, runCommand, which, unstableVersion ? false
 }:
 
+# nodejs 0.12 can't be built on armv5tel. Armv6 with FPU, minimum I think.
+# Related post: http://zo0ok.com/techfindings/archives/1820
+assert stdenv.system != "armv5tel-linux";
+
 let
   dtrace = runCommand "dtrace-native" {} ''
     mkdir -p $out/bin
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 920bbc006211..64614db14443 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -1866,15 +1866,23 @@ let
 
   ninka = callPackage ../development/tools/misc/ninka { };
 
-  nodejs = callPackage ../development/web/nodejs { libuv = libuvVersions.v1_2_0; };
+  nodejs-0_12 = callPackage ../development/web/nodejs { libuv = libuvVersions.v1_2_0; };
   nodejs-unstable = callPackage ../development/web/nodejs { libuv = libuvVersions.v1_2_0; unstableVersion = true; };
   nodejs-0_10 = callPackage ../development/web/nodejs/v0_10.nix { };
 
-  nodePackages_0_12 = callPackage ./node-packages.nix { self = nodePackages_0_12; };
+  nodejs = if stdenv.system == "armv5tel-linux" then
+    nodejs-0_10
+  else
+    nodejs-0_12;
+
+  nodePackages_0_12 = callPackage ./node-packages.nix { self = nodePackages_0_12; nodejs = nodejs-0_10; };
 
   nodePackages_0_10 = callPackage ./node-packages.nix { self = nodePackages_0_10; nodejs = nodejs-0_10; };
 
-  nodePackages = nodePackages_0_12;
+  nodePackages = if stdenv.system == "armv5tel-linux" then
+    nodePackages-0_10
+  else
+    nodePackages-0_12;
 
   iojs = callPackage ../development/web/iojs { libuv = libuvVersions.v1_4_0; };