diff --git a/configuration/rescue-cd.nix b/configuration/rescue-cd.nix
index a429304071d9..27ba51cf11fc 100644
--- a/configuration/rescue-cd.nix
+++ b/configuration/rescue-cd.nix
@@ -4,14 +4,12 @@
     then builtins.readFile ../relname
     else "nixos-${builtins.readFile ../VERSION}"
 , compressImage ? false
+, nixpkgsPath ? ../../nixpkgs
 }:
 
 rec {
 
   
-  nixpkgsRel = "nixpkgs-0.12pre11791-xl06i469";
-
-
   configuration = {
   
     boot = {
@@ -101,9 +99,7 @@ rec {
 
               mkdir -p /etc/nixos/nixos
               tar xjf /install/nixos.tar.bz2 -C /etc/nixos/nixos
-              tar xjf /install/nixpkgs.tar.bz2 -C /etc/nixos
-              mv /etc/nixos/nixpkgs-* /etc/nixos/nixpkgs
-              ln -sfn ../nixpkgs/pkgs /etc/nixos/nixos/pkgs
+              tar xjf /install/nixpkgs.tar.bz2 -C /etc/nixos/nixpkgs
               chown -R root.root /etc/nixos
             end script
           ";
@@ -165,7 +161,7 @@ rec {
     };
     
     installer = {
-      nixpkgsURL = http://nixos.org/releases/nixpkgs/ + nixpkgsRel;
+      nixpkgsURL = http://nixos.org/releases/nixpkgs/unstable;
     };
 
     security = {
@@ -189,7 +185,7 @@ rec {
 
 
   system = import ../system/system.nix {
-    inherit configuration platform;
+    inherit configuration platform nixpkgsPath;
     stage2Init = "/init";
   };
 
@@ -201,7 +197,7 @@ rec {
   # 0.11 (you won't get the manual).
   manual =
     if builtins ? unsafeDiscardStringContext
-    then "${import ../doc/manual}/manual.html"
+    then "${import ../doc/manual {inherit nixpkgsPath;}}/manual.html"
     else pkgs.writeText "dummy-manual" "Manual not included in this build!";
 
 
@@ -218,19 +214,16 @@ rec {
   
   # Put the current directory in a tarball (making sure to filter
   # out crap like the .svn directories).
-  nixosTarball =
-    let filter = name: type:
-      let base = baseNameOf (toString name);
-      in base != ".svn" && base != "result";
-    in
-      makeTarball "nixos.tar.bz2" (builtins.filterSource filter ./..);
+  nixosTarball =makeTarball "nixos.tar.bz2" (builtins.filterSource svnFilter ./..);
+
+  svnFilter = name: type:
+    let base = baseNameOf (toString name);
+    in base != ".svn" && base != "result";
 
 
-  # Get a recent copy of Nixpkgs.
-  nixpkgsTarball = pkgs.fetchurl {
-    url = configuration.installer.nixpkgsURL + "/nixexprs.tar.bz2";
-    sha256 = "267c45134eee9a8a93812589e5bd45333c5061a8047b41f3bf27ed76a1461750";
-  };
+  # Put Nixpkgs in a tarball
+  nixpkgsTarball = makeTarball "nixpkgs.tar.bz2"
+    (builtins.filterSource svnFilter nixpkgsPath);
 
 
   # The configuration file for Grub.
@@ -255,6 +248,7 @@ rec {
   # Create an ISO image containing the Grub boot loader, the kernel,
   # the initrd produced above, and the closure of the stage 2 init.
   rescueCD = import ../helpers/make-iso9660-image.nix {
+    inherit nixpkgsPath;
     inherit (pkgs) stdenv perl cdrkit;
     isoName = "${relName}-${platform}.iso";
 
@@ -281,7 +275,7 @@ rec {
       { source = nixosTarball + "/" + nixosTarball.tarName;
         target = "/install/" + nixosTarball.tarName;
       }
-      { source = nixpkgsTarball;
+      { source = nixpkgsTarball + "/nixpkgs.tar.bz2";
         target = "/install/nixpkgs.tar.bz2";
       }
       { source = pkgs.writeText "label" "";
diff --git a/doc/manual/default.nix b/doc/manual/default.nix
index a42b947cd596..b83a4ce5dce0 100644
--- a/doc/manual/default.nix
+++ b/doc/manual/default.nix
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
+{nixpkgsPath ? ../../../nixpkgs}:
+
 let
 
-  pkgs = import ../../pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix {};
+  pkgs = import "${nixpkgsPath}/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix" {};
 
   options = builtins.toFile "options.xml" (builtins.unsafeDiscardStringContext
     (builtins.toXML (pkgs.lib.optionAttrSetToDocList ""
diff --git a/helpers/make-iso9660-image.nix b/helpers/make-iso9660-image.nix
index 076820bb5c26..fbabb7c0f490 100644
--- a/helpers/make-iso9660-image.nix
+++ b/helpers/make-iso9660-image.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ stdenv, perl, cdrkit
+{ stdenv, perl, cdrkit, nixpkgsPath
 
   # The file name of the resulting ISO image.
 , isoName ? "cd.iso"
@@ -51,5 +51,5 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
     map (x: [("closure-" + baseNameOf x.object) x.object]) storeContents;
   exportBuildReferencesGraph =
     map (x: [("closure-build-" + baseNameOf x.object) x.object]) buildStoreContents;
-  pathsFromGraph = ../pkgs/build-support/kernel/paths-from-graph.pl;
+  pathsFromGraph = "${nixpkgsPath}/pkgs/build-support/kernel/paths-from-graph.pl";
 }
diff --git a/installer/default.nix b/installer/default.nix
index ef2f4fd678fb..46a1c941c8cb 100644
--- a/installer/default.nix
+++ b/installer/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{pkgs, config, nix}:
+{pkgs, config, nix, nixpkgsPath}:
 
 let
 
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ in
     inherit nix;
     nixpkgsURL = config.installer.nixpkgsURL;
 
-    pathsFromGraph = ../pkgs/build-support/kernel/paths-from-graph.pl;
+    pathsFromGraph = "${nixpkgsPath}/pkgs/build-support/kernel/paths-from-graph.pl";
 
     nixClosure = pkgs.runCommand "closure"
       {exportReferencesGraph = ["refs" nix];}
diff --git a/installer/nixos-checkout.sh b/installer/nixos-checkout.sh
index 12595ad61c39..0457f4d7cb7b 100644
--- a/installer/nixos-checkout.sh
+++ b/installer/nixos-checkout.sh
@@ -24,14 +24,14 @@ fi
 cd /etc/nixos
 
 if test -n "$NIXOS" && test "$NIXOS_BRANCH" = 1 && test -z "$CHECKOUT_BRANCH" && ! test "$NIXOS" = "/etc/nixos/nixos"; then
-	CHECKOUT_BRANCH=${NIXOS##*/}
-	CHECKOUT_BRANCH=${CHECKOUT_BRANCH#nixos-}
-	CHECKOUT_BRANCH=branches/${CHECKOUT_BRANCH}
-	CHECKOUT_SUFFIX=-${CHECKOUT_BRANCH##*/}
+    CHECKOUT_BRANCH=${NIXOS##*/}
+    CHECKOUT_BRANCH=${CHECKOUT_BRANCH#nixos-}
+    CHECKOUT_BRANCH=branches/${CHECKOUT_BRANCH}
+    CHECKOUT_SUFFIX=-${CHECKOUT_BRANCH##*/}
 fi
 
 if test -n "${CHECKOUT_BRANCH}" && test -z "${CHECKOUT_SUFFIX}" ; then
-	CHECKOUT_SUFFIX=-${CHECKOUT_BRANCH##*/}
+    CHECKOUT_SUFFIX=-${CHECKOUT_BRANCH##*/}
 fi;
 
 # Move any old nixos or nixpkgs directories out of the way.
@@ -56,7 +56,6 @@ svn co https://svn.nixos.org/repos/nix/services/trunk services
 
 # Add a few required symlink.
 ln -sfn ../services nixos${CHECKOUT_SUFFIX}/services
-ln -sfn ../nixpkgs${CHECKOUT_SUFFIX}/pkgs nixos${CHECKOUT_SUFFIX}/pkgs
 
 REVISION=$(svn info nixpkgs${CHECKOUT_SUFFIX} | egrep '^Revision: ');
 REVISION=${REVISION#Revision: };
diff --git a/system/system.nix b/system/system.nix
index 47b3f5d1ab02..590189f9abbb 100644
--- a/system/system.nix
+++ b/system/system.nix
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 { platform ? __currentSystem
 , stage2Init ? ""
 , configuration
+, nixpkgsPath ? ../../nixpkgs
 }:
 
 rec {
@@ -12,21 +13,21 @@ rec {
   optionDeclarations = import ./options.nix {inherit pkgs; inherit (pkgs.lib) mkOption;};
     
 
-  pkgs = import ../pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix {system = platform;};
+  pkgs = import "${nixpkgsPath}/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix" {system = platform;};
 
-  pkgsDiet = import ../pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix {
+  pkgsDiet = import "${nixpkgsPath}/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix" {
     system = platform;
     bootStdenv = pkgs.useDietLibC pkgs.stdenv;
   };
 
-  pkgsStatic = import ../pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix {
+  pkgsStatic = import "${nixpkgsPath}/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix" {
     system = platform;
     bootStdenv = pkgs.makeStaticBinaries pkgs.stdenv;
   };
 
-  stdenvLinuxStuff = import ../pkgs/stdenv/linux {
+  stdenvLinuxStuff = import "${nixpkgsPath}/pkgs/stdenv/linux" {
     system = pkgs.stdenv.system;
-    allPackages = import ../pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix;
+    allPackages = import "${nixpkgsPath}/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix";
   };
 
   manifests = config.installer.manifests; # exported here because nixos-rebuild uses it
@@ -141,7 +142,7 @@ rec {
 
   # NixOS installation/updating tools.
   nixosTools = import ../installer {
-    inherit pkgs config nix;
+    inherit pkgs config nix nixpkgsPath;
   };