diff --git a/pkgs/stdenv/common-path.nix b/pkgs/stdenv/common-path.nix
index c2e5dedfd22a..cff6fd0a3eed 100644
--- a/pkgs/stdenv/common-path.nix
+++ b/pkgs/stdenv/common-path.nix
@@ -11,6 +11,5 @@
   pkgs.gnumake
   pkgs.bash
   pkgs.patch
-  pkgs.replace
   pkgs.xz
 ]
diff --git a/pkgs/stdenv/generic/builder.sh b/pkgs/stdenv/generic/builder.sh
index 23cc2a0775f5..01e86ce39986 100644
--- a/pkgs/stdenv/generic/builder.sh
+++ b/pkgs/stdenv/generic/builder.sh
@@ -16,8 +16,6 @@ done
 
 mkdir $out
 
-# Can't use substitute() here, because replace may not have been
-# built yet (in the bootstrap).
 sed \
     -e "s^@preHook@^$_preHook^g" \
     -e "s^@postHook@^$_postHook^g" \
diff --git a/pkgs/stdenv/generic/setup.sh b/pkgs/stdenv/generic/setup.sh
index a06b72058269..9ea97c1bf581 100644
--- a/pkgs/stdenv/generic/setup.sh
+++ b/pkgs/stdenv/generic/setup.sh
@@ -315,43 +315,39 @@ substitute() {
     local output="$2"
 
     local -a params=("$@")
-    local -a args=()
 
     local n p pattern replacement varName
 
+    local content="$(cat $input)"
+
     for ((n = 2; n < ${#params[*]}; n += 1)); do
         p=${params[$n]}
 
-        if test "$p" = "--replace"; then
+        if [ "$p" = --replace ]; then
             pattern="${params[$((n + 1))]}"
             replacement="${params[$((n + 2))]}"
             n=$((n + 2))
         fi
 
-        if test "$p" = "--subst-var"; then
+        if [ "$p" = --subst-var ]; then
             varName="${params[$((n + 1))]}"
             pattern="@$varName@"
             replacement="${!varName}"
             n=$((n + 1))
         fi
 
-        if test "$p" = "--subst-var-by"; then
+        if [ "$p" = --subst-var-by ]; then
             pattern="@${params[$((n + 1))]}@"
             replacement="${params[$((n + 2))]}"
             n=$((n + 2))
         fi
 
-        if test ${#args[@]} != 0; then
-            args[${#args[@]}]="-a"
-        fi
-        args[${#args[@]}]="$pattern"
-        args[${#args[@]}]="$replacement"
+        content="${content//"$pattern"/$replacement}"
     done
 
-    replace-literal -e -s -- "${args[@]}" < "$input" > "$output".tmp
-    if test -x "$output"; then
-        chmod +x "$output".tmp
-    fi
+    # !!! This doesn't work properly if $content is "-n".
+    echo -n "$content" > "$output".tmp
+    if [ -x "$output" ]; then chmod +x "$output".tmp; fi
     mv -f "$output".tmp "$output"
 }
 
diff --git a/pkgs/stdenv/linux/make-bootstrap-tools.nix b/pkgs/stdenv/linux/make-bootstrap-tools.nix
index a780574539f9..9116b2225690 100644
--- a/pkgs/stdenv/linux/make-bootstrap-tools.nix
+++ b/pkgs/stdenv/linux/make-bootstrap-tools.nix
@@ -133,7 +133,6 @@ rec {
         cp -d ${gnumake}/bin/* $out/bin
         cp -d ${patch}/bin/* $out/bin
         cp ${patchelf}/bin/* $out/bin
-        cp ${replace}/bin/* $out/bin
 
         cp -d ${gnugrep.pcre}/lib/libpcre*.so* $out/lib # needed by grep