diff --git a/src/nix/store-import.cc b/src/nix/store-import.cc
index 707b9f792..f7719d904 100644
--- a/src/nix/store-import.cc
+++ b/src/nix/store-import.cc
@@ -44,6 +44,19 @@ struct CmdStoreExport : StorePathsCommand, MixImportExport
         ;
     }
 
+    std::optional<Path> outputFile = std::nullopt;
+
+    CmdStoreExport()
+    {
+        addFlag({
+            .longName = "output-file",
+            .description = "Write the archive to the given file instead of stdout.",
+            .labels = {"file"},
+            .handler = {&outputFile},
+        });
+
+    }
+
     void run(ref<Store> store, StorePaths && storePaths) override
     {
 
@@ -54,7 +67,22 @@ struct CmdStoreExport : StorePathsCommand, MixImportExport
 
         StorePathSet pathsAsSet;
         pathsAsSet.insert(storePaths.begin(), storePaths.end());
-        FdSink sink(STDOUT_FILENO);
+
+        auto sink = [&]() -> FdSink {
+            if (outputFile) {
+                if (*outputFile == "-") {
+                    return FdSink(STDOUT_FILENO);
+                } else {
+                    auto fd = open(outputFile->c_str(), O_CREAT | O_WRONLY | O_TRUNC, 0644);
+                    return FdSink(fd);
+                }
+            } else if (isatty(STDOUT_FILENO)) {
+                throw Error("Refusing to write binary data to a terminal. Use `--output-file` to specify a file to write to.");
+            } else {
+                return FdSink(STDOUT_FILENO);
+            }
+        }();
+
         store->exportPaths(pathsAsSet, sink);
         sink.flush();
     }
@@ -73,9 +101,27 @@ struct CmdStoreImport : StoreCommand, MixImportExport
         ;
     }
 
+    std::optional<Path> inputFile = std::nullopt;
+
+    CmdStoreImport() {
+        addFlag({
+            .longName = "input-file",
+            .description = "Read the archive from the given file instead of stdin.",
+            .labels = {"file"},
+            .handler = {&inputFile},
+        });
+    }
+
     void run(ref<Store> store) override
     {
-        FdSource source(STDIN_FILENO);
+        FdSource source = [&]() -> FdSource {
+            if (inputFile && *inputFile != "-") {
+                auto fd = open(inputFile->c_str(), O_RDONLY);
+                return FdSource(fd);
+            } else {
+                return FdSource(STDIN_FILENO);
+            }
+        }();
         auto paths = store->importPaths(source, NoCheckSigs);
 
         for (auto & path : paths)
diff --git a/tests/functional/store-import-export.sh b/tests/functional/store-import-export.sh
index 325f0ae3f..d2afdbc92 100644
--- a/tests/functional/store-import-export.sh
+++ b/tests/functional/store-import-export.sh
@@ -22,3 +22,17 @@ for IMPORTED_STORE_PATH in $IMPORTED_STORE_PATHS; do
     nix path-info "$IMPORTED_STORE_PATH" ||
         fail "path $BUILT_STORE_PATH should have been imported but isn't valid"
 done
+
+faketty () {
+    # Run a command in a pseudo-terminal.
+    script -qefc "$(printf "%q " "$@")" /dev/null
+}
+
+! faketty nix store export --format binary --recursive $BUILT_STORE_PATHS > /dev/null || \
+    fail "nix store export should refuse to write in a tty by default"
+faketty nix store export --format binary --recursive $BUILT_STORE_PATHS --output-file - > /dev/null || \
+    fail "nix store export should accept to write in a tty if explicitly asked to"
+
+nix store export --format binary --recursive $BUILT_STORE_PATHS --output-file "$TEST_ROOT/store-export2"
+diff "$TEST_ROOT/store-export" "$TEST_ROOT/store-export2" || \
+    fail '`nix store export --output-file blah` should be equivalent to `nix store export > blah`'