diff --git a/src/libutil/file-system.cc b/src/libutil/file-system.cc
index 2802bbf98..92996ea47 100644
--- a/src/libutil/file-system.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/file-system.cc
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 
 namespace nix {
 
-namespace fs = std::filesystem;
+namespace fs { using namespace std::filesystem; }
 
 /**
  * Treat the string as possibly an absolute path, by inspecting the
diff --git a/src/libutil/file-system.hh b/src/libutil/file-system.hh
index da864d500..4c08cdf58 100644
--- a/src/libutil/file-system.hh
+++ b/src/libutil/file-system.hh
@@ -126,6 +126,8 @@ std::optional<struct stat> maybeLstat(const Path & path);
  */
 bool pathExists(const Path & path);
 
+namespace fs {
+
 /**
  *  ```
  *  symlink_exists(p) = std::filesystem::exists(std::filesystem::symlink_status(p))
@@ -139,6 +141,8 @@ inline bool symlink_exists(const std::filesystem::path & path) {
     return std::filesystem::exists(std::filesystem::symlink_status(path));
 }
 
+} // namespace fs
+
 /**
  * A version of pathExists that returns false on a permission error.
  * Useful for inferring default paths across directories that might not
diff --git a/src/libutil/tarfile.cc b/src/libutil/tarfile.cc
index 397169757..e412930bb 100644
--- a/src/libutil/tarfile.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/tarfile.cc
@@ -8,7 +8,9 @@
 
 namespace nix {
 
-namespace fs = std::filesystem;
+namespace fs {
+using namespace std::filesystem;
+}
 
 namespace {
 
diff --git a/src/nix/eval.cc b/src/nix/eval.cc
index a8c18fef6..7811b77ed 100644
--- a/src/nix/eval.cc
+++ b/src/nix/eval.cc
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ struct CmdEval : MixJSON, InstallableValueCommand, MixReadOnlyOption
         if (writeTo) {
             stopProgressBar();
 
-            if (nix::symlink_exists(*writeTo))
+            if (fs::symlink_exists(*writeTo))
                 throw Error("path '%s' already exists", writeTo->string());
 
             std::function<void(Value & v, const PosIdx pos, const fs::path & path)> recurse;