diff --git a/pkgs/stdenv/generic/check-meta.nix b/pkgs/stdenv/generic/check-meta.nix
index e0ead55d1a7..1da098dabbe 100644
--- a/pkgs/stdenv/generic/check-meta.nix
+++ b/pkgs/stdenv/generic/check-meta.nix
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@ let
   # If we're in hydra, we can dispense with the more verbose error
   # messages and make problems easier to spot.
   inHydra = config.inHydra or false;
+  # Allow the user to opt-into additional warnings, e.g.
+  # import <nixpkgs> { config = { showDerivationWarnings = [ "maintainerless" ]; }; }
+  showWarnings = config.showDerivationWarnings;
+
   getName = attrs: attrs.name or ("${attrs.pname or "«name-missing»"}-${attrs.version or "«version-missing»"}");
 
   # See discussion at https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/25304#issuecomment-298385426
@@ -46,6 +50,9 @@ let
     hasLicense attrs &&
     isUnfree (lib.lists.toList attrs.meta.license);
 
+  hasNoMaintainers = attrs:
+    attrs ? meta.maintainers && (lib.length attrs.meta.maintainers) == 0;
+
   isMarkedBroken = attrs: attrs.meta.broken or false;
 
   hasUnsupportedPlatform = attrs:
@@ -91,6 +98,7 @@ let
     insecure = remediate_insecure;
     broken-outputs = remediateOutputsToInstall;
     unknown-meta = x: "";
+    maintainerless = x: "";
   };
   remediation_env_var = allow_attr: {
     Unfree = "NIXPKGS_ALLOW_UNFREE";
@@ -199,6 +207,14 @@ let
         else throw;
     in handler msg;
 
+  handleEvalWarning = { meta, attrs }: { reason , errormsg ? "" }:
+    let
+      remediationMsg = (builtins.getAttr reason remediation) attrs;
+      msg = if inHydra then "Warning while evaluating ${getName attrs}: «${reason}»: ${errormsg}"
+        else "Package ${getName attrs} in ${pos_str meta} ${errormsg}, continuing anyway."
+             + (if remediationMsg != "" then "\n${remediationMsg}" else "");
+      isEnabled = lib.findFirst (x: x == reason) null showWarnings;
+    in if isEnabled != null then builtins.trace msg true else true;
 
   metaTypes = with lib.types; rec {
     # These keys are documented
@@ -277,28 +293,37 @@ let
       insecure = isMarkedInsecure attrs;
     }
     // (if hasDeniedUnfreeLicense attrs && !(hasAllowlistedLicense attrs) then
-      { valid = false; reason = "unfree"; errormsg = "has an unfree license (‘${showLicense attrs.meta.license}’)"; }
+      { valid = "no"; reason = "unfree"; errormsg = "has an unfree license (‘${showLicense attrs.meta.license}’)"; }
     else if hasBlocklistedLicense attrs then
-      { valid = false; reason = "blocklisted"; errormsg = "has a blocklisted license (‘${showLicense attrs.meta.license}’)"; }
+      { valid = "no"; reason = "blocklisted"; errormsg = "has a blocklisted license (‘${showLicense attrs.meta.license}’)"; }
     else if !allowBroken && attrs.meta.broken or false then
-      { valid = false; reason = "broken"; errormsg = "is marked as broken"; }
+      { valid = "no"; reason = "broken"; errormsg = "is marked as broken"; }
     else if !allowUnsupportedSystem && hasUnsupportedPlatform attrs then
-      { valid = false; reason = "unsupported"; errormsg = "is not supported on ‘${hostPlatform.system}’"; }
+      { valid = "no"; reason = "unsupported"; errormsg = "is not supported on ‘${hostPlatform.system}’"; }
     else if !(hasAllowedInsecure attrs) then
-      { valid = false; reason = "insecure"; errormsg = "is marked as insecure"; }
+      { valid = "no"; reason = "insecure"; errormsg = "is marked as insecure"; }
     else if checkOutputsToInstall attrs then
-      { valid = false; reason = "broken-outputs"; errormsg = "has invalid meta.outputsToInstall"; }
+      { valid = "no"; reason = "broken-outputs"; errormsg = "has invalid meta.outputsToInstall"; }
     else let res = checkMeta (attrs.meta or {}); in if res != [] then
-      { valid = false; reason = "unknown-meta"; errormsg = "has an invalid meta attrset:${lib.concatMapStrings (x: "\n\t - " + x) res}"; }
-    else { valid = true; });
+      { valid = "no"; reason = "unknown-meta"; errormsg = "has an invalid meta attrset:${lib.concatMapStrings (x: "\n\t - " + x) res}"; }
+    # --- warnings ---
+    # Please also update the type in /pkgs/top-level/config.nix alongside this.
+    else if hasNoMaintainers attrs then
+      { valid = "warn"; reason = "maintainerless"; errormsg = "has no maintainers"; }
+    # -----
+    else { valid = "yes"; });
 
   assertValidity = { meta, attrs }: let
       validity = checkValidity attrs;
     in validity // {
-      # Throw an error if trying to evaluate an non-valid derivation
-      handled = if !validity.valid
-        then handleEvalIssue { inherit meta attrs; } { inherit (validity) reason errormsg; }
-        else true;
+      # Throw an error if trying to evaluate a non-valid derivation
+      # or, alternatively, just output a warning message.
+      handled =
+        {
+          no = handleEvalIssue { inherit meta attrs; } { inherit (validity) reason errormsg; };
+          warn = handleEvalWarning { inherit meta attrs; } { inherit (validity) reason errormsg; };
+          yes = true;
+        }.${validity.valid};
   };
 
 in assertValidity
diff --git a/pkgs/stdenv/generic/make-derivation.nix b/pkgs/stdenv/generic/make-derivation.nix
index d1b93874a25..53e391ab63f 100644
--- a/pkgs/stdenv/generic/make-derivation.nix
+++ b/pkgs/stdenv/generic/make-derivation.nix
@@ -370,7 +370,7 @@ else let
     } // {
       # Expose the result of the checks for everyone to see.
       inherit (validity) unfree broken unsupported insecure;
-      available = validity.valid
+      available = validity.valid != "no"
                && (if config.checkMetaRecursively or false
                    then lib.all (d: d.meta.available or true) references
                    else true);
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/config.nix b/pkgs/top-level/config.nix
index 7665815d412..d553b624039 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/config.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/config.nix
@@ -94,6 +94,21 @@ let
       '';
     };
 
+    showDerivationWarnings = mkOption {
+      type = types.listOf (types.enum [ "maintainerless" ]);
+      default = [];
+      description = ''
+        Which warnings to display for potentially dangerous
+        or deprecated values passed into `stdenv.mkDerivation`.
+
+        A list of warnings can be found in
+        <link xlink:href="https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/master/pkgs/stdenv/generic/check-meta.nix">/pkgs/stdenv/generic/check-meta.nix</link>.
+
+        This is not a stable interface; warnings may be added, changed
+        or removed without prior notice.
+      '';
+    };
+
   };
 
 in {