diff --git a/src/libutil/package.nix b/src/libutil/package.nix
index 892951cdf..1996a6c4d 100644
--- a/src/libutil/package.nix
+++ b/src/libutil/package.nix
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 { lib
 , stdenv
+, mkMesonDerivation
 , releaseTools
 
 , meson
@@ -38,22 +39,22 @@ let
     else stdenv.mkDerivation;
 in
 
-mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
+mkMesonDerivation (finalAttrs: {
   pname = "nix-util";
   inherit version;
 
-  src = fileset.toSource {
-    root = ./.;
-    fileset = fileset.unions [
-      ./meson.build
-      ./meson.options
-      ./linux/meson.build
-      ./unix/meson.build
-      ./windows/meson.build
-      (fileset.fileFilter (file: file.hasExt "cc") ./.)
-      (fileset.fileFilter (file: file.hasExt "hh") ./.)
-    ];
-  };
+  workDir = ./.;
+  fileset = fileset.unions [
+    ../../.version
+    ./.version
+    ./meson.build
+    ./meson.options
+    ./linux/meson.build
+    ./unix/meson.build
+    ./windows/meson.build
+    (fileset.fileFilter (file: file.hasExt "cc") ./.)
+    (fileset.fileFilter (file: file.hasExt "hh") ./.)
+  ];
 
   outputs = [ "out" "dev" ];
 
@@ -80,13 +81,9 @@ mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
   disallowedReferences = [ boost ];
 
   preConfigure =
-    # "Inline" .version so it's not a symlink, and includes the suffix
-    ''
-      echo ${version} > .version
-    ''
     # Copy some boost libraries so we don't get all of Boost in our
     # closure. https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/45462
-    + lib.optionalString (!stdenv.hostPlatform.isStatic) (''
+    lib.optionalString (!stdenv.hostPlatform.isStatic) (''
       mkdir -p $out/lib
       cp -pd ${boost}/lib/{libboost_context*,libboost_thread*,libboost_system*} $out/lib
       rm -f $out/lib/*.a