UPDATE Ruby 2.4+
Since ruby 2.4.0, you can use the compact method:
{ a: 'a', b: ('b' if cond) }.compact
Original answer (Ruby 1.9.2)
You could first create the hash with key => nil for when the condition is not met, and then delete those pairs where the value is nil. For example:
{ :a => 'a', :b => ('b' if cond) }.delete_if{ |k,v| v.nil? }
yields, for cond == true:
{:b=>"b", :a=>"a"}
and for cond == false
{:a=>"a"}
UPDATE for ruby 1.9.3
This is equivalent – a bit more concise and in ruby 1.9.3 notation:
{ a: 'a', b: ('b' if cond) }.reject{ |k,v| v.nil? }