diff --git a/pkgs/applications/virtualization/virt-manager/custom_runner.py b/pkgs/applications/virtualization/virt-manager/custom_runner.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 5322c20dd329..000000000000
--- a/pkgs/applications/virtualization/virt-manager/custom_runner.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/python -t
-# this script was written to use /etc/nixos/nixpkgs/pkgs/development/python-modules/generic/wrap.sh
-# which already automates python executable wrapping by extending the PATH/pythonPath
-
-# from http://docs.python.org/library/subprocess.html
-# Warning Invoking the system shell with shell=True can be a security hazard if combined with untrusted input. See the warning under Frequently Used Arguments for details.
-
-from subprocess import Popen, PIPE, STDOUT
-
-cmd = 'PYTHON_EXECUTABLE_PATH -t THE_CUSTOM_PATH/share/virt-manager/THE_CUSTOM_PROGRAM.py'
-p = Popen(cmd, shell=True, stdin=PIPE, stdout=PIPE, stderr=STDOUT, close_fds=True)
-output = p.stdout.read()
-print output
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/virtualization/virt-manager/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/virtualization/virt-manager/default.nix
index 9eee8c2ca4ea..fb2dde66442f 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/virtualization/virt-manager/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/virtualization/virt-manager/default.nix
@@ -41,10 +41,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [ makeWrapper pythonPackages.wrapPython ];
 
-  # patch the runner script in order to make wrapPythonPrograms work and run the program using a syscall
-  # example code: /etc/nixos/nixpkgs/pkgs/development/interpreters/spidermonkey/1.8.0-rc1.nix
-  customRunner = ./custom_runner.py;
-
   # TODO
   # virt-manager     -> import gtk.glade -> No module named glade --> fixed by removing 'pygtk' and by only using pyGtkGlade
   #                  -> import gconf     -> ImportError: No module named gconf
@@ -62,21 +58,13 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 # -> fixed by http://nixos.org/wiki/Solve_GConf_errors_when_running_GNOME_applications & a restart
   # virt-manager-tui -> ImportError: No module named newt_syrup.dialogscreen
 
-  patchPhase = ''
-    cat ${customRunner} > src/virt-manager.in
-    substituteInPlace "src/virt-manager.in" --replace "THE_CUSTOM_PATH" "$out"
-    substituteInPlace "src/virt-manager.in" --replace "THE_CUSTOM_PROGRAM" "virt-manager"
-    substituteInPlace "src/virt-manager.in" --replace "PYTHON_EXECUTABLE_PATH" "${python}/bin/python"
-
-    cat ${customRunner} > src/virt-manager-tui.in
-    substituteInPlace "src/virt-manager-tui.in" --replace "THE_CUSTOM_PATH" "$out"
-    substituteInPlace "src/virt-manager-tui.in" --replace "THE_CUSTOM_PROGRAM" "virt-manager-tui"
-    substituteInPlace "src/virt-manager-tui.in" --replace "PYTHON_EXECUTABLE_PATH" "${python}/bin/python"
-  '';
-
-  # /etc/nixos/nixpkgs/pkgs/development/python-modules/generic/wrap.sh
   installPhase = ''
     make install
+
+    # A hack, but the most reliable method so far
+    echo "#!/usr/bin/env python" | cat - src/virt-manager.py > $out/bin/virt-manager
+    echo "#!/usr/bin/env python" | cat - src/virt-manager-tui.py > $out/bin/virt-manager-tui
+
     wrapPythonPrograms
   '';