diff --git a/src/libexpr/eval-inline.hh b/src/libexpr/eval-inline.hh
index d48871628..52aa75b5f 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/eval-inline.hh
+++ b/src/libexpr/eval-inline.hh
@@ -93,20 +93,12 @@ void EvalState::forceValue(Value & v, const PosIdx pos)
             expr->eval(*this, *env, v);
         } catch (...) {
             v.mkThunk(env, expr);
+            tryFixupBlackHolePos(v, pos);
             throw;
         }
     }
-    else if (v.isApp()) {
-        try {
-            callFunction(*v.app.left, *v.app.right, v, noPos);
-        } catch (InfiniteRecursionError & e) {
-            // only one black hole can *throw* in any given eval stack so we need not
-            // check whether the position is set already.
-            if (v.isBlackhole())
-                e.err.errPos = positions[pos];
-            throw;
-        }
-    }
+    else if (v.isApp())
+        callFunction(*v.app.left, *v.app.right, v, pos);
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/libexpr/eval.cc b/src/libexpr/eval.cc
index 4dc5af97a..0c35b3713 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/eval.cc
+++ b/src/libexpr/eval.cc
@@ -256,8 +256,8 @@ std::string showType(const Value & v)
         case tPrimOpApp:
             return fmt("the partially applied built-in function '%s'", std::string(getPrimOp(v)->primOp->name));
         case tExternal: return v.external->showType();
-        case tThunk: return "a thunk";
-        case tApp: return v.isBlackhole() ? "a black hole" : "a function application";
+        case tThunk: return v.isBlackhole() ? "a black hole" : "a thunk";
+        case tApp: return "a function application";
     default:
         return std::string(showType(v.type()));
     }
@@ -1624,14 +1624,12 @@ void EvalState::callFunction(Value & fun, size_t nrArgs, Value * * args, Value &
                 auto * fn = vCur.primOp;
 
                 nrPrimOpCalls++;
-                // This will count black holes, but that's ok, because unrecoverable errors are rare.
                 if (countCalls) primOpCalls[fn->name]++;
 
                 try {
                     fn->fun(*this, vCur.determinePos(noPos), args, vCur);
                 } catch (Error & e) {
-                    if (!fn->hideInDiagnostics)
-                        addErrorTrace(e, pos, "while calling the '%1%' builtin", fn->name);
+                    addErrorTrace(e, pos, "while calling the '%1%' builtin", fn->name);
                     throw;
                 }
 
@@ -1670,7 +1668,6 @@ void EvalState::callFunction(Value & fun, size_t nrArgs, Value * * args, Value &
 
                 auto fn = primOp->primOp;
                 nrPrimOpCalls++;
-                // This will count black holes, but that's ok, because unrecoverable errors are rare.
                 if (countCalls) primOpCalls[fn->name]++;
 
                 try {
@@ -1680,8 +1677,7 @@ void EvalState::callFunction(Value & fun, size_t nrArgs, Value * * args, Value &
                     //    so the debugger allows to inspect the wrong parameters passed to the builtin.
                     fn->fun(*this, vCur.determinePos(noPos), vArgs, vCur);
                 } catch (Error & e) {
-                    if (!fn->hideInDiagnostics)
-                        addErrorTrace(e, pos, "while calling the '%1%' builtin", fn->name);
+                    addErrorTrace(e, pos, "while calling the '%1%' builtin", fn->name);
                     throw;
                 }
 
@@ -2035,6 +2031,29 @@ void ExprPos::eval(EvalState & state, Env & env, Value & v)
 }
 
 
+void ExprBlackHole::eval(EvalState & state, Env & env, Value & v)
+{
+    state.error("infinite recursion encountered")
+        .debugThrow<InfiniteRecursionError>();
+}
+
+// always force this to be separate, otherwise forceValue may inline it and take
+// a massive perf hit
+[[gnu::noinline]]
+void EvalState::tryFixupBlackHolePos(Value & v, PosIdx pos)
+{
+    if (!v.isBlackhole())
+        return;
+    auto e = std::current_exception();
+    try {
+        std::rethrow_exception(e);
+    } catch (InfiniteRecursionError & e) {
+        e.err.errPos = positions[pos];
+    } catch (...) {
+    }
+}
+
+
 void EvalState::forceValueDeep(Value & v)
 {
     std::set<const Value *> seen;
diff --git a/src/libexpr/eval.hh b/src/libexpr/eval.hh
index 4c7ea1d98..56bc5e48f 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/eval.hh
+++ b/src/libexpr/eval.hh
@@ -77,14 +77,6 @@ struct PrimOp
      */
     std::optional<ExperimentalFeature> experimentalFeature;
 
-    /**
-     * Whether to hide this primop in diagnostics.
-     *
-     * Used to hide the fact that black holes are primop applications from
-     * stack traces.
-     */
-    bool hideInDiagnostics;
-
     /**
      * Validity check to be performed by functions that introduce primops,
      * such as RegisterPrimOp() and Value::mkPrimOp().
@@ -473,6 +465,8 @@ public:
      */
     inline void forceValue(Value & v, const PosIdx pos);
 
+    void tryFixupBlackHolePos(Value & v, PosIdx pos);
+
     /**
      * Force a value, then recursively force list elements and
      * attributes.
diff --git a/src/libexpr/nixexpr.cc b/src/libexpr/nixexpr.cc
index 22be8e68c..84860b30f 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/nixexpr.cc
+++ b/src/libexpr/nixexpr.cc
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@
 
 namespace nix {
 
+ExprBlackHole eBlackHole;
+
 struct PosAdapter : AbstractPos
 {
     Pos::Origin origin;
diff --git a/src/libexpr/nixexpr.hh b/src/libexpr/nixexpr.hh
index cf6fd1a8d..1e57fec7a 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/nixexpr.hh
+++ b/src/libexpr/nixexpr.hh
@@ -462,6 +462,16 @@ struct ExprPos : Expr
     COMMON_METHODS
 };
 
+/* only used to mark thunks as black holes. */
+struct ExprBlackHole : Expr
+{
+    void show(const SymbolTable & symbols, std::ostream & str) const override {}
+    void eval(EvalState & state, Env & env, Value & v) override;
+    void bindVars(EvalState & es, const std::shared_ptr<const StaticEnv> & env) override {}
+};
+
+extern ExprBlackHole eBlackHole;
+
 
 /* Static environments are used to map variable names onto (level,
    displacement) pairs used to obtain the value of the variable at
diff --git a/src/libexpr/primops.cc b/src/libexpr/primops.cc
index b7e903667..2a71747a0 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/primops.cc
+++ b/src/libexpr/primops.cc
@@ -4263,29 +4263,6 @@ static RegisterPrimOp primop_splitVersion({
 });
 
 
-static void prim_blackHoleFn(EvalState & state, const PosIdx pos, Value * * args, Value & v)
-{
-    state.error("infinite recursion encountered")
-        .debugThrow<InfiniteRecursionError>();
-}
-
-static PrimOp primop_blackHole = {
-    .name = "«blackHole»",
-    .args = {},
-    .fun = prim_blackHoleFn,
-    .hideInDiagnostics = true,
-};
-
-static Value makeBlackHole()
-{
-    Value v;
-    v.mkPrimOp(&primop_blackHole);
-    return v;
-}
-
-Value prim_blackHole = makeBlackHole();
-
-
 /*************************************************************
  * Primop registration
  *************************************************************/
diff --git a/src/libexpr/primops.hh b/src/libexpr/primops.hh
index 244eada86..45486608f 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/primops.hh
+++ b/src/libexpr/primops.hh
@@ -51,10 +51,4 @@ void prim_importNative(EvalState & state, const PosIdx pos, Value * * args, Valu
  */
 void prim_exec(EvalState & state, const PosIdx pos, Value * * args, Value & v);
 
-/**
- *  Placeholder value for black holes, used to represent black holes as
- *  applications of this value to the evaluated thunks.
- */
-extern Value prim_blackHole;
-
 }
diff --git a/src/libexpr/value.hh b/src/libexpr/value.hh
index 52cd0f901..d9860e921 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/value.hh
+++ b/src/libexpr/value.hh
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ class Bindings;
 struct Env;
 struct Expr;
 struct ExprLambda;
+struct ExprBlackHole;
 struct PrimOp;
 class Symbol;
 class PosIdx;
@@ -442,16 +443,17 @@ public:
 };
 
 
-extern Value prim_blackHole;
+extern ExprBlackHole eBlackHole;
 
-inline bool Value::isBlackhole() const
+bool Value::isBlackhole() const
 {
-    return internalType == tApp && app.left == &prim_blackHole;
+    return internalType == tThunk && thunk.expr == (Expr*) &eBlackHole;
 }
 
-inline void Value::mkBlackhole()
+void Value::mkBlackhole()
 {
-    mkApp(&prim_blackHole, &prim_blackHole);
+    internalType = tThunk;
+    thunk.expr = (Expr*) &eBlackHole;
 }