diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/builder.sh b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/builder.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index 8fb5e9f91eb44d..00000000000000
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/builder.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,149 +0,0 @@
-source $stdenv/setup
-
-
-makeFlags="ARCH=$arch SHELL=/bin/sh KBUILD_BUILD_VERSION=1-NixOS $makeFlags"
-if [ -n "$crossConfig" ]; then
-  makeFlags="$makeFlags CROSS_COMPILE=$crossConfig-"
-fi
-
-postPatch() {
-    # Makefiles are full of /bin/pwd, /bin/false, /bin/bash, etc.
-    # Patch these away, assuming the tools are in $PATH.
-    for mf in $(find -name Makefile); do
-        echo "stripping FHS paths in \`$mf'..."
-        sed -i "$mf" -e 's|/usr/bin/||g ; s|/bin/||g'
-    done
-}
-
-configurePhase() {
-    if test -n "$preConfigure"; then
-        eval "$preConfigure"
-    fi
-
-    export INSTALL_PATH=$out
-    export INSTALL_MOD_PATH=$out
-
-    # Set our own localversion, if specified.
-    rm -f localversion*
-    if test -n "$localVersion"; then
-        echo "$localVersion" > localversion-nix
-    fi
-
-    # Patch kconfig to print "###" after every question so that
-    # generate-config.pl can answer them.
-    sed -e '/fflush(stdout);/i\printf("###");' -i scripts/kconfig/conf.c
-
-    # Get a basic config file for later refinement with $generateConfig.
-    make $kernelBaseConfig ARCH=$arch
-
-    # Create the config file.
-    echo "generating kernel configuration..."
-    echo "$kernelConfig" > kernel-config
-    DEBUG=1 ARCH=$arch KERNEL_CONFIG=kernel-config AUTO_MODULES=$autoModules \
-        perl -w $generateConfig
-}
-
-
-installPhase() {
-
-    mkdir -p $out
-
-    # New kernel versions have a combined tree for i386 and x86_64.
-    archDir=$arch
-    if test -e arch/x86 -a \( "$arch" = i386 -o "$arch" = x86_64 \); then
-        archDir=x86
-    fi
-
-
-    # Copy the bzImage and System.map.
-    cp System.map $out
-    if test "$arch" = um; then
-        mkdir -p $out/bin
-        cp linux $out/bin
-    elif test "$kernelTarget" != "vmlinux"; then
-        # In any case we copy the 'vmlinux' ELF in the next lines
-        cp arch/$archDir/boot/$kernelTarget $out
-    fi
-
-    cp vmlinux $out
-
-    if grep -q "CONFIG_MODULES=y" .config; then
-        # Install the modules in $out/lib/modules.
-        make modules_install \
-            DEPMOD=$kmod/sbin/depmod \
-            $makeFlags "${makeFlagsArray[@]}" \
-            $installFlags "${installFlagsArray[@]}"
-
-        if test -z "$dontStrip"; then
-            # Strip the kernel modules.
-        echo "Stripping kernel modules..."
-        if [ -z "$crossConfig" ]; then
-                find $out -name "*.ko" -print0 | xargs -0 strip -S
-        else
-                find $out -name "*.ko" -print0 | xargs -0 $crossConfig-strip -S
-        fi
-        fi
-
-        # move this to install later on
-        # largely copied from early FC3 kernel spec files
-        version=$(cd $out/lib/modules && ls -d *)
-
-        # remove symlinks and create directories
-        rm -f $out/lib/modules/$version/build
-        rm -f $out/lib/modules/$version/source
-        mkdir $out/lib/modules/$version/build
-
-        # copy config
-        cp .config $out/lib/modules/$version/build/.config
-        ln -s $out/lib/modules/$version/build/.config $out/config
-
-        if test "$arch" != um; then
-            # copy all Makefiles and Kconfig files
-            ln -s $out/lib/modules/$version/build $out/lib/modules/$version/source
-            cp --parents `find  -type f -name Makefile -o -name "Kconfig*"` $out/lib/modules/$version/build
-            cp Module.symvers $out/lib/modules/$version/build
-
-        if test "$dontStrip" = "1"; then
-            # copy any debugging info that can be found
-            cp --parents -rv `find -name \*.debug -o -name debug.a`     \
-               "$out/lib/modules/$version/build"
-        fi
-
-            # weed out unneeded stuff
-            rm -rf $out/lib/modules/$version/build/Documentation
-            rm -rf $out/lib/modules/$version/build/scripts
-            rm -rf $out/lib/modules/$version/build/include
-
-            # copy architecture dependent files
-            cp -a arch/$archDir/scripts $out/lib/modules/$version/build/ || true
-            cp -a arch/$archDir/*lds $out/lib/modules/$version/build/ || true
-            cp -a arch/$archDir/Makefile*.cpu $out/lib/modules/$version/build/arch/$archDir/ || true
-            cp -a --parents arch/$archDir/kernel/asm-offsets.s $out/lib/modules/$version/build/arch/$archDir/kernel/ || true
-
-            # copy scripts
-            rm -f scripts/*.o
-            rm -f scripts/*/*.o
-            cp -a scripts $out/lib/modules/$version/build
-
-            # copy include files
-            includeDir=$out/lib/modules/$version/build/include
-            mkdir -p $includeDir
-            (cd include && cp -a * $includeDir)
-        (cd arch/$archDir/include && cp -a * $includeDir || true)
-        (cd arch/$archDir/include && cp -a asm/* $includeDir/asm/ || true)
-        (cd arch/$archDir/include && cp -a generated/asm/* $includeDir/asm/ || true)
-        (cd arch/$archDir/include/asm/mach-generic && cp -a * $includeDir/ || true)
-            # include files for special arm architectures 
-            if [ "$archDir" == "arm" ]; then
-                cp -a --parents arch/arm/mach-*/include $out/lib/modules/$version/build
-            fi
-        fi
-    fi
-
-    if test -n "$postInstall"; then
-        eval "$postInstall";
-    fi
-}
-
-
-genericBuild
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/generate-config.pl b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/generate-config.pl
index 78663098fb31b6..20abe1015c3fef 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/generate-config.pl
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/generate-config.pl
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@
 
 use strict;
 use IPC::Open2;
+use Cwd;
+
+my $wd = getcwd;
 
 my $debug = $ENV{'DEBUG'};
 my $autoModules = $ENV{'AUTO_MODULES'};
@@ -36,7 +39,7 @@
 sub runConfig {
 
     # Run `make config'.
-    my $pid = open2(\*IN, \*OUT, "make config SHELL=bash ARCH=$ENV{ARCH}");
+    my $pid = open2(\*IN, \*OUT, "make -C $ENV{SRC} O=$wd config SHELL=bash ARCH=$ENV{ARCH}");
 
     # Parse the output, look for questions and then send an
     # appropriate answer.
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/generic.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/generic.nix
index 3e1fc920a59bb0..888dcf1e9a51e1 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/generic.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/generic.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ stdenv, fetchurl, perl, mktemp, kmod, bc
+{ stdenv, perl, linuxManualConfig
 
 , # The kernel source tarball.
   src
@@ -23,20 +23,7 @@
   # symbolic name and `patch' is the actual patch.  The patch may
   # optionally be compressed with gzip or bzip2.
   kernelPatches ? []
-
-, # Allows you to set your own kernel version suffix (e.g.,
-  # "-my-kernel").
-  localVersion ? ""
-
-, preConfigure ? ""
 , extraMeta ? {}
-, ubootChooser ? null
-, postInstall ? ""
-
-, # After the builder did a 'make all' (kernel + modules)
-  # we force building the target asked: bzImage/zImage/uImage/...
-  postBuild ? "make $makeFlags $kernelTarget; make $makeFlags -C scripts unifdef"
-
 , ...
 }:
 
@@ -52,93 +39,76 @@ let
         map ({extraConfig ? "", ...}: extraConfig) kernelPatches;
     in lib.concatStringsSep "\n" ([baseConfig] ++ configFromPatches);
 
+  configfile = stdenv.mkDerivation {
+    name = "linux-config-${version}";
+
+    generateConfig = ./generate-config.pl;
+
+    kernelConfig = kernelConfigFun config;
+
+    ignoreConfigErrors = stdenv.platform.name != "pc";
+
+    nativeBuildInputs = [ perl ];
+
+    platformName = stdenv.platform.name;
+    kernelBaseConfig = stdenv.platform.kernelBaseConfig;
+    kernelTarget = stdenv.platform.kernelTarget;
+    autoModules = stdenv.platform.kernelAutoModules;
+    arch = stdenv.platform.kernelArch;
+
+    crossAttrs = let
+        cp = stdenv.cross.platform;
+      in {
+        arch = cp.kernelArch;
+        platformName = cp.name;
+        kernelBaseConfig = cp.kernelBaseConfig;
+        kernelTarget = cp.kernelTarget;
+        autoModules = cp.kernelAutoModules;
+
+        # Just ignore all options that don't apply (We are lazy).
+        ignoreConfigErrors = true;
+
+        kernelConfig = kernelConfigFun configCross;
+      };
+    buildCommand = ''
+      # Get a basic config file for later refinement with $generateConfig.
+      make -C ${kernel.sourceRoot} O=$PWD $kernelBaseConfig ARCH=$arch
+
+      # Create the config file.
+      echo "generating kernel configuration..."
+      echo "$kernelConfig" > kernel-config
+      DEBUG=1 ARCH=$arch KERNEL_CONFIG=kernel-config AUTO_MODULES=$autoModules \
+           SRC=${kernel.sourceRoot} perl -w $generateConfig
+      mv .config $out
+    '';
+  };
+
+  kernel = linuxManualConfig {
+    inherit version modDirVersion src kernelPatches;
+
+    configfile = configfile.nativeDrv or configfile;
+
+    crossConfigfile = configfile.crossDrv or configfile;
+
+    config = { CONFIG_MODULES = "y"; CONFIG_FW_LOADER = "m"; };
+
+    crossConfig = { CONFIG_MODULES = "y"; CONFIG_FW_LOADER = "m"; };
+  };
+
   configWithPlatform = kernelPlatform:
     import ./common-config.nix { inherit stdenv version kernelPlatform extraConfig; };
 
   config = configWithPlatform stdenv.platform;
   configCross = configWithPlatform stdenv.cross.platform;
 
-in
-
-stdenv.mkDerivation {
-  name = "linux-${version}";
-
-  enableParallelBuilding = true;
-
   passthru = {
-    inherit version modDirVersion kernelPatches;
     # Combine the `features' attribute sets of all the kernel patches.
     features = lib.fold (x: y: (x.features or {}) // y) features kernelPatches;
+
+    meta = kernel.meta // extraMeta;
   };
 
-  builder = ./builder.sh;
-
-  generateConfig = ./generate-config.pl;
-
-  inherit preConfigure src kmod localVersion postInstall postBuild;
-
-  patches = map (p: p.patch) kernelPatches;
-
-  kernelConfig = kernelConfigFun config;
-
-  # For UML and non-PC, just ignore all options that don't apply (We are lazy).
-  ignoreConfigErrors = stdenv.platform.name != "pc";
-
-  nativeBuildInputs = [ perl mktemp bc ];
-
-  buildInputs = lib.optional (stdenv.platform.uboot != null)
-    (ubootChooser stdenv.platform.uboot);
-
-  platformName = stdenv.platform.name;
-  kernelBaseConfig = stdenv.platform.kernelBaseConfig;
-  kernelTarget = stdenv.platform.kernelTarget;
-  autoModules = stdenv.platform.kernelAutoModules;
-
-  # Should we trust platform.kernelArch? We can only do
-  # that once we differentiate i686/x86_64 in platforms.
-  arch =
-    if stdenv.system == "i686-linux" then "i386" else
-    if stdenv.system == "x86_64-linux" then "x86_64" else
-    if stdenv.isArm then "arm" else
-    if stdenv.system == "mips64el-linux" then "mips" else
-    abort "Platform ${stdenv.system} is not supported.";
-
-  crossAttrs = let
-      cp = stdenv.cross.platform;
-    in
-      assert cp.name == "sheevaplug" -> cp.uboot != null;
-    {
-      arch = cp.kernelArch;
-      platformName = cp.name;
-      kernelBaseConfig = cp.kernelBaseConfig;
-      kernelTarget = cp.kernelTarget;
-      autoModules = cp.kernelAutoModules;
-
-      # Just ignore all options that don't apply (We are lazy).
-      ignoreConfigErrors = true;
-
-      kernelConfig = kernelConfigFun configCross;
-
-      # The substitution of crossAttrs happens *after* the stdenv cross adapter sets
-      # the parameters for the usual stdenv. Thus, we need to specify
-      # the ".crossDrv" in the buildInputs here.
-      buildInputs = lib.optional (cp.uboot != null) (ubootChooser cp.uboot).crossDrv;
-    };
-
-  meta = {
-    description =
-      "The Linux kernel" +
-      (if kernelPatches == [] then "" else
-        " (with patches: "
-        + lib.concatStrings (lib.intersperse ", " (map (x: x.name) kernelPatches))
-        + ")");
-    license = "GPLv2";
-    homepage = http://www.kernel.org/;
-    maintainers = [
-      lib.maintainers.eelco
-      lib.maintainers.chaoflow
-    ];
-    platforms = lib.platforms.linux;
-  } // extraMeta;
-}
+  nativeDrv = lib.addPassthru kernel.nativeDrv passthru;
 
+  crossDrv = lib.addPassthru kernel.crossDrv passthru;
+in if kernel ? crossDrv then nativeDrv // { inherit nativeDrv crossDrv; } else lib.addPassthru kernel passthru
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/manual-config.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/manual-config.nix
index 9c82aea41aa655..408c79c781af1b 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/manual-config.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/manual-config.nix
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ let
   ''; };
 
   commonMakeFlags = [
-    "O=$(buildRoot)"
+    "O=$(buildRoot)" "KBUILD_BUILD_VERSION=1-NixOS"
   ];
 
   drvAttrs = config_: platform: kernelPatches: configfile:
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ let
         runHook postConfigure
       '';
 
-      buildFlags = [ stdenv.platform.kernelTarget ] ++ optional isModular "modules";
+      buildFlags = [ platform.kernelTarget ] ++ optional isModular "modules";
 
       installFlags = [
         "INSTALLKERNEL=${installkernel}"
@@ -158,6 +158,21 @@ let
               "s|${sourceRoot}|$NIX_STORE/eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-${sourceRoot.name}|g"
         fi
       '' else null;
+
+      meta = {
+        description =
+          "The Linux kernel" +
+          (if kernelPatches == [] then "" else
+            " (with patches: "
+            + stdenv.lib.concatStrings (stdenv.lib.intersperse ", " (map (x: x.name) kernelPatches))
+            + ")");
+        license = "GPLv2";
+        homepage = http://www.kernel.org/;
+        maintainers = [
+          maintainers.shlevy
+        ];
+        platforms = platforms.linux;
+      };
     };
 in
 
@@ -173,7 +188,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation ((drvAttrs config stdenv.platform (kernelPatches ++ nativeKe
     "ARCH=${stdenv.platform.kernelArch}"
   ];
 
-  crossAttrs = let cp = stdenv.cross.platform; in {
+  crossAttrs = let cp = stdenv.cross.platform; in
     (drvAttrs crossConfig cp (kernelPatches ++ crossKernelPatches) crossConfigfile) // {
       makeFlags = commonMakeFlags ++ [
         "ARCH=${cp.kernelArch}"
@@ -186,14 +201,4 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation ((drvAttrs config stdenv.platform (kernelPatches ++ nativeKe
       # may be different from stdenv.platform.uboot)
       buildInputs = optional (cp.uboot != null) (ubootChooser cp.uboot).crossDrv;
   };
-
-  meta = {
-    description = "The Linux kernel";
-    license = "GPLv2";
-    homepage = http://www.kernel.org/;
-    maintainers = [
-      maintainers.shlevy
-    ];
-    platforms = platforms.linux;
-  };
 })
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index f5c93f37f73e51..94cbd83f93a2b1 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -6704,7 +6704,7 @@ let
   kernelPatches = callPackage ../os-specific/linux/kernel/patches.nix { };
 
   linux_3_2 = makeOverridable (import ../os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-3.2.nix) {
-    inherit fetchurl stdenv perl mktemp bc kmod ubootChooser;
+    inherit fetchurl stdenv perl linuxManualConfig;
     kernelPatches =
       [ kernelPatches.sec_perm_2_6_24
         # kernelPatches.aufs3_2
@@ -6754,7 +6754,7 @@ let
   });
 
   linux_3_4 = makeOverridable (import ../os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-3.4.nix) {
-    inherit fetchurl stdenv perl mktemp bc kmod ubootChooser;
+    inherit fetchurl stdenv perl linuxManualConfig;
     kernelPatches =
       [ kernelPatches.sec_perm_2_6_24
         # kernelPatches.aufs3_4
@@ -6773,11 +6773,11 @@ let
   });
 
   linux_3_6_rpi = makeOverridable (import ../os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-rpi-3.6.nix) {
-    inherit fetchurl stdenv perl mktemp bc kmod ubootChooser;
+    inherit fetchurl stdenv perl linuxManualConfig;
   };
 
   linux_3_10 = makeOverridable (import ../os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-3.10.nix) {
-    inherit fetchurl stdenv perl mktemp bc kmod ubootChooser;
+    inherit fetchurl stdenv perl linuxManualConfig;
     kernelPatches =
       [
         kernelPatches.sec_perm_2_6_24
@@ -6798,7 +6798,7 @@ let
   });
 
   linux_3_11 = makeOverridable (import ../os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-3.11.nix) {
-    inherit fetchurl stdenv perl mktemp bc kmod ubootChooser;
+    inherit fetchurl stdenv perl linuxManualConfig;
     kernelPatches =
       [
         kernelPatches.sec_perm_2_6_24
@@ -6810,7 +6810,7 @@ let
   };
 
   linux_3_12 = makeOverridable (import ../os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-3.12.nix) {
-    inherit fetchurl stdenv perl mktemp bc kmod ubootChooser;
+    inherit fetchurl stdenv perl linuxManualConfig;
     kernelPatches =
       [
         kernelPatches.sec_perm_2_6_24