diff --git a/src/nix-env/nix-env.cc b/src/nix-env/nix-env.cc
index a43b103f6ec6..894f64ec208b 100644
--- a/src/nix-env/nix-env.cc
+++ b/src/nix-env/nix-env.cc
@@ -464,6 +464,9 @@ static void installDerivations(Globals & globals,
 
     StringSet newNames;
     for (auto & i : newElems) {
+        /* Evaluate (and possibly fail) now before giving any mixed signals to the user. */
+        i.queryOutPath();
+
         /* `forceName' is a hack to get package names right in some
            one-click installs, namely those where the name used in the
            path is not the one we want (e.g., `java-front' versus
@@ -897,6 +900,7 @@ static void opQuery(Globals & globals, Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
     bool jsonOutput = false;
 
     enum { sInstalled, sAvailable } source = sInstalled;
+    enum { eAll, eApproximate, eStrict } evaluate = eApproximate;
 
     settings.readOnlyMode = true; /* makes evaluation a bit faster */
 
@@ -912,6 +916,9 @@ static void opQuery(Globals & globals, Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
         else if (arg == "--meta") printMeta = true;
         else if (arg == "--installed") source = sInstalled;
         else if (arg == "--available" || arg == "-a") source = sAvailable;
+        else if (arg == "--all") evaluate = eAll;
+        else if (arg == "--approximate") evaluate = eApproximate;
+        else if (arg == "--strict") evaluate = eStrict;
         else if (arg == "--xml") xmlOutput = true;
         else if (arg == "--json") jsonOutput = true;
         else if (arg == "--attr-path" || arg == "-P") printAttrPath = true;
@@ -993,6 +1000,24 @@ static void opQuery(Globals & globals, Strings opFlags, Strings opArgs)
 
             //Activity act(*logger, lvlDebug, format("outputting query result '%1%'") % i.attrPath);
 
+            /* Filter. */
+            if (!printStatus && !globals.prebuiltOnly && evaluate != eAll) {
+                if (evaluate == eStrict)
+                    /* Force evaluation. The above `try` will skip this element
+                       if this throws an exception. */
+                    i.queryOutPath();
+                else {
+                    /* Skip derivations based on `.meta.available`. */
+                    Value * check = i.queryMeta("available");
+                    if (!check || check->type != tBool)
+                        /* Fallback to evaluation as above. */
+                        i.queryOutPath();
+                    else if (check->boolean == false)
+                        /* Just skip it. */
+                        continue;
+                }
+            }
+
             if (globals.prebuiltOnly &&
                 validPaths.find(i.queryOutPath()) == validPaths.end() &&
                 substitutablePaths.find(i.queryOutPath()) == substitutablePaths.end())