diff --git a/src/libflake/flake/flake.cc b/src/libflake/flake/flake.cc
index 717848ee1..90945f949 100644
--- a/src/libflake/flake/flake.cc
+++ b/src/libflake/flake/flake.cc
@@ -397,7 +397,8 @@ static Flake getFlake(
     const FlakeRef & originalRef,
     bool useRegistries,
     FlakeCache & flakeCache,
-    const InputAttrPath & lockRootAttrPath)
+    const InputAttrPath & lockRootAttrPath,
+    bool forceLazy)
 {
     // Fetch a lazy tree first.
     auto [accessor, resolvedRef, lockedRef] = fetchOrSubstituteTree(
@@ -419,17 +420,22 @@ static Flake getFlake(
         lockedRef = lockedRef2;
     }
 
-    // Copy the tree to the store.
-    auto storePath = copyInputToStore(state, lockedRef.input, originalRef.input, accessor);
-
     // Re-parse flake.nix from the store.
-    return readFlake(state, originalRef, resolvedRef, lockedRef, state.rootPath(state.store->toRealPath(storePath)), lockRootAttrPath);
+    return readFlake(
+        state, originalRef, resolvedRef, lockedRef,
+        forceLazy && lockedRef.input.isLocked()
+        ? SourcePath(accessor)
+        : // Copy the tree to the store.
+          state.rootPath(
+            state.store->toRealPath(
+                copyInputToStore(state, lockedRef.input, originalRef.input, accessor))),
+        lockRootAttrPath);
 }
 
-Flake getFlake(EvalState & state, const FlakeRef & originalRef, bool useRegistries)
+Flake getFlake(EvalState & state, const FlakeRef & originalRef, bool useRegistries, bool forceLazy)
 {
     FlakeCache flakeCache;
-    return getFlake(state, originalRef, useRegistries, flakeCache, {});
+    return getFlake(state, originalRef, useRegistries, flakeCache, {}, forceLazy);
 }
 
 static LockFile readLockFile(
@@ -455,7 +461,7 @@ LockedFlake lockFlake(
 
     auto useRegistries = lockFlags.useRegistries.value_or(settings.useRegistries);
 
-    auto flake = getFlake(state, topRef, useRegistries, flakeCache, {});
+    auto flake = getFlake(state, topRef, useRegistries, flakeCache, {}, lockFlags.forceLazy);
 
     if (lockFlags.applyNixConfig) {
         flake.config.apply(settings);
@@ -630,7 +636,7 @@ LockedFlake lockFlake(
                         if (auto resolvedPath = resolveRelativePath()) {
                             return readFlake(state, *input.ref, *input.ref, *input.ref, *resolvedPath, inputAttrPath);
                         } else {
-                            return getFlake(state, *input.ref, useRegistries, flakeCache, inputAttrPath);
+                            return getFlake(state, *input.ref, useRegistries, flakeCache, inputAttrPath, lockFlags.forceLazy);
                         }
                     };
 
@@ -781,10 +787,14 @@ LockedFlake lockFlake(
                                     auto [accessor, resolvedRef, lockedRef] = fetchOrSubstituteTree(
                                         state, *input.ref, useRegistries, flakeCache);
 
-                                    // FIXME: allow input to be lazy.
-                                    auto storePath = copyInputToStore(state, lockedRef.input, input.ref->input, accessor);
-
-                                    return {state.rootPath(state.store->toRealPath(storePath)), lockedRef};
+                                    return {
+                                        lockFlags.forceLazy && lockedRef.input.isLocked()
+                                        ? SourcePath(accessor)
+                                        : state.rootPath(
+                                            state.store->toRealPath(
+                                                copyInputToStore(state, lockedRef.input, input.ref->input, accessor))),
+                                        lockedRef
+                                    };
                                 }
                             }();
 
@@ -894,7 +904,7 @@ LockedFlake lockFlake(
                            repo, so we should re-read it. FIXME: we could
                            also just clear the 'rev' field... */
                         auto prevLockedRef = flake.lockedRef;
-                        flake = getFlake(state, topRef, useRegistries);
+                        flake = getFlake(state, topRef, useRegistries, lockFlags.forceLazy);
 
                         if (lockFlags.commitLockFile &&
                             flake.lockedRef.input.getRev() &&
diff --git a/src/libflake/flake/flake.hh b/src/libflake/flake/flake.hh
index 8d9b9a698..3696fd110 100644
--- a/src/libflake/flake/flake.hh
+++ b/src/libflake/flake/flake.hh
@@ -123,7 +123,11 @@ struct Flake
     }
 };
 
-Flake getFlake(EvalState & state, const FlakeRef & flakeRef, bool useRegistries);
+Flake getFlake(
+    EvalState & state,
+    const FlakeRef & flakeRef,
+    bool useRegistries,
+    bool forceLazy = false);
 
 /**
  * Fingerprint of a locked flake; used as a cache key.
@@ -221,6 +225,11 @@ struct LockFlags
      * for those inputs will be ignored.
      */
     std::set<InputAttrPath> inputUpdates;
+
+    /**
+     * If set, do not copy the flake to the Nix store.
+     */
+    bool forceLazy = false;
 };
 
 LockedFlake lockFlake(
diff --git a/src/nix/flake.cc b/src/nix/flake.cc
index 6f220b495..1cc13bf59 100644
--- a/src/nix/flake.cc
+++ b/src/nix/flake.cc
@@ -133,6 +133,7 @@ public:
         lockFlags.recreateLockFile = updateAll;
         lockFlags.writeLockFile = true;
         lockFlags.applyNixConfig = true;
+        lockFlags.forceLazy = true;
 
         lockFlake();
     }
@@ -165,6 +166,7 @@ struct CmdFlakeLock : FlakeCommand
         lockFlags.writeLockFile = true;
         lockFlags.failOnUnlocked = true;
         lockFlags.applyNixConfig = true;
+        lockFlags.forceLazy = true;
 
         lockFlake();
     }
@@ -211,12 +213,10 @@ struct CmdFlakeMetadata : FlakeCommand, MixJSON
 
     void run(nix::ref<nix::Store> store) override
     {
+        lockFlags.forceLazy = true;
         auto lockedFlake = lockFlake();
         auto & flake = lockedFlake.flake;
 
-        // Currently, all flakes are in the Nix store via the rootFS accessor.
-        auto storePath = store->printStorePath(sourcePathToStorePath(store, flake.path).first);
-
         if (json) {
             nlohmann::json j;
             if (flake.description)
@@ -237,7 +237,6 @@ struct CmdFlakeMetadata : FlakeCommand, MixJSON
                 j["revCount"] = *revCount;
             if (auto lastModified = flake.lockedRef.input.getLastModified())
                 j["lastModified"] = *lastModified;
-            j["path"] = storePath;
             j["locks"] = lockedFlake.lockFile.toJSON().first;
             if (auto fingerprint = lockedFlake.getFingerprint(store, fetchSettings))
                 j["fingerprint"] = fingerprint->to_string(HashFormat::Base16, false);
@@ -254,9 +253,6 @@ struct CmdFlakeMetadata : FlakeCommand, MixJSON
                 logger->cout(
                     ANSI_BOLD "Description:" ANSI_NORMAL "   %s",
                     *flake.description);
-            logger->cout(
-                ANSI_BOLD "Path:" ANSI_NORMAL "          %s",
-                storePath);
             if (auto rev = flake.lockedRef.input.getRev())
                 logger->cout(
                     ANSI_BOLD "Revision:" ANSI_NORMAL "      %s",
diff --git a/tests/functional/flakes/flakes.sh b/tests/functional/flakes/flakes.sh
index d8c9f254d..8936afa22 100755
--- a/tests/functional/flakes/flakes.sh
+++ b/tests/functional/flakes/flakes.sh
@@ -69,7 +69,6 @@ nix flake metadata "$flake1Dir" | grepQuiet 'URL:.*flake1.*'
 # Test 'nix flake metadata --json'.
 json=$(nix flake metadata flake1 --json | jq .)
 [[ $(echo "$json" | jq -r .description) = 'Bla bla' ]]
-[[ -d $(echo "$json" | jq -r .path) ]]
 [[ $(echo "$json" | jq -r .lastModified) = $(git -C "$flake1Dir" log -n1 --format=%ct) ]]
 hash1=$(echo "$json" | jq -r .revision)
 [[ -n $(echo "$json" | jq -r .fingerprint) ]]