diff --git a/doc/manual/command-ref/conf-file.xml b/doc/manual/command-ref/conf-file.xml
index daaf00ac3..3362e3e28 100644
--- a/doc/manual/command-ref/conf-file.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/command-ref/conf-file.xml
@@ -268,7 +268,12 @@ flag, e.g. <literal>--option gc-keep-outputs false</literal>.</para>
     to mount a path in a different location in the sandbox; for
     instance, <literal>/bin=/nix-bin</literal> will mount the path
     <literal>/nix-bin</literal> as <literal>/bin</literal> inside the
-    sandbox.</para>
+    sandbox. If <replaceable>source</replaceable> is followed by
+    <literal>?</literal>, then it is not an error if
+    <replaceable>source</replaceable> does not exist; for example,
+    <literal>/dev/nvidiactl?</literal> specifies that
+    <filename>/dev/nvidiactl</filename> will only be mounted in the
+    sandbox if it exists in the host filesystem.</para>
 
     <para>Depending on how Nix was built, the default value for this option
     may be empty or provide <filename>/bin/sh</filename> as a
diff --git a/src/libstore/build.cc b/src/libstore/build.cc
index 4e7b66657..4996a71c4 100644
--- a/src/libstore/build.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/build.cc
@@ -761,7 +761,14 @@ private:
     GoalState state;
 
     /* Stuff we need to pass to initChild(). */
-    typedef map<Path, Path> DirsInChroot; // maps target path to source path
+    struct ChrootPath {
+        Path source;
+        bool optional;
+        ChrootPath(Path source = "", bool optional = false)
+            : source(source), optional(optional)
+        { }
+    };
+    typedef map<Path, ChrootPath> DirsInChroot; // maps target path to source path
     DirsInChroot dirsInChroot;
     typedef map<string, string> Environment;
     Environment env;
@@ -1924,20 +1931,30 @@ void DerivationGoal::startBuilder()
 
         dirsInChroot.clear();
 
-        for (auto & i : dirs) {
+        for (auto i : dirs) {
+            if (i.empty()) continue;
+            bool optional = false;
+            if (i[i.size() - 1] == '?') {
+                optional = true;
+                i.pop_back();
+            }
             size_t p = i.find('=');
             if (p == string::npos)
-                dirsInChroot[i] = i;
+                dirsInChroot[i] = {i, optional};
             else
-                dirsInChroot[string(i, 0, p)] = string(i, p + 1);
+                dirsInChroot[string(i, 0, p)] = {string(i, p + 1), optional};
         }
         dirsInChroot[tmpDirInSandbox] = tmpDir;
 
         /* Add the closure of store paths to the chroot. */
         PathSet closure;
         for (auto & i : dirsInChroot)
-            if (isInStore(i.second))
-                computeFSClosure(worker.store, toStorePath(i.second), closure);
+            try {
+                if (isInStore(i.second.source))
+                    computeFSClosure(worker.store, toStorePath(i.second.source), closure);
+            } catch (Error & e) {
+                throw Error(format("while processing ‘build-sandbox-paths’: %s") % e.what());
+            }
         for (auto & i : closure)
             dirsInChroot[i] = i;
 
@@ -2328,12 +2345,16 @@ void DerivationGoal::runChild()
                environment. */
             for (auto & i : dirsInChroot) {
                 struct stat st;
-                Path source = i.second;
+                Path source = i.second.source;
                 Path target = chrootRootDir + i.first;
                 if (source == "/proc") continue; // backwards compatibility
                 debug(format("bind mounting ‘%1%’ to ‘%2%’") % source % target);
-                if (stat(source.c_str(), &st) == -1)
-                    throw SysError(format("getting attributes of path ‘%1%’") % source);
+                if (stat(source.c_str(), &st) == -1) {
+                    if (i.second.optional && errno == ENOENT)
+                        continue;
+                    else
+                        throw SysError(format("getting attributes of path ‘%1%’") % source);
+                }
                 if (S_ISDIR(st.st_mode))
                     createDirs(target);
                 else {