diff --git a/nixos/lib/make-options-doc/default.nix b/nixos/lib/make-options-doc/default.nix
index e058e70f3888..498a60134ab6 100644
--- a/nixos/lib/make-options-doc/default.nix
+++ b/nixos/lib/make-options-doc/default.nix
@@ -93,72 +93,20 @@ let
 
   optionsNix = builtins.listToAttrs (map (o: { name = o.name; value = removeAttrs o ["name" "visible" "internal"]; }) optionsList);
 
-  # TODO: declarations: link to github
-  singleAsciiDoc = name: value: ''
-    == ${name}
-
-    ${value.description}
-
-    [discrete]
-    === details
-
-    Type:: ${value.type}
-    ${ if lib.hasAttr "default" value
-       then ''
-        Default::
-        +
-        ----
-        ${builtins.toJSON value.default}
-        ----
-      ''
-      else "No Default:: {blank}"
-    }
-    ${ if value.readOnly
-       then "Read Only:: {blank}"
-      else ""
-    }
-    ${ if lib.hasAttr "example" value
-       then ''
-        Example::
-        +
-        ----
-        ${builtins.toJSON value.example}
-        ----
-      ''
-      else "No Example:: {blank}"
-    }
-  '';
-
-  singleMDDoc = name: value: ''
-    ## ${lib.escape [ "<" ">" ] name}
-    ${value.description}
-
-    ${lib.optionalString (value ? type) ''
-      *_Type_*:
-      ${value.type}
-    ''}
-
-    ${lib.optionalString (value ? default) ''
-      *_Default_*
-      ```
-      ${builtins.toJSON value.default}
-      ```
-    ''}
-
-    ${lib.optionalString (value ? example) ''
-      *_Example_*
-      ```
-      ${builtins.toJSON value.example}
-      ```
-    ''}
-  '';
-
-in {
+in rec {
   inherit optionsNix;
 
-  optionsAsciiDoc = lib.concatStringsSep "\n" (lib.mapAttrsToList singleAsciiDoc optionsNix);
+  optionsAsciiDoc = pkgs.runCommand "options.adoc" {} ''
+    ${pkgs.python3Minimal}/bin/python ${./generateAsciiDoc.py} \
+      < ${optionsJSON}/share/doc/nixos/options.json \
+      > $out
+  '';
 
-  optionsMDDoc = lib.concatStringsSep "\n" (lib.mapAttrsToList singleMDDoc optionsNix);
+  optionsCommonMark = pkgs.runCommand "options.md" {} ''
+    ${pkgs.python3Minimal}/bin/python ${./generateCommonMark.py} \
+      < ${optionsJSON}/share/doc/nixos/options.json \
+      > $out
+  '';
 
   optionsJSON = pkgs.runCommand "options.json"
     { meta.description = "List of NixOS options in JSON format";
diff --git a/nixos/lib/make-options-doc/generateAsciiDoc.py b/nixos/lib/make-options-doc/generateAsciiDoc.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..48eadd248c5a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nixos/lib/make-options-doc/generateAsciiDoc.py
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+import json
+import sys
+
+options = json.load(sys.stdin)
+# TODO: declarations: link to github
+for (name, value) in options.items():
+    print(f'== {name}')
+    print()
+    print(value['description'])
+    print()
+    print('[discrete]')
+    print('=== details')
+    print()
+    print(f'Type:: {value["type"]}')
+    if 'default' in value:
+        print('Default::')
+        print('+')
+        print('----')
+        print(json.dumps(value['default'], ensure_ascii=False, separators=(',', ':')))
+        print('----')
+        print()
+    else:
+        print('No Default:: {blank}')
+    if value['readOnly']:
+        print('Read Only:: {blank}')
+    else:
+        print()
+    if 'example' in value:
+        print('Example::')
+        print('+')
+        print('----')
+        print(json.dumps(value['example'], ensure_ascii=False, separators=(',', ':')))
+        print('----')
+        print()
+    else:
+        print('No Example:: {blank}')
+    print()
diff --git a/nixos/lib/make-options-doc/generateCommonMark.py b/nixos/lib/make-options-doc/generateCommonMark.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..404e53b0df9c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nixos/lib/make-options-doc/generateCommonMark.py
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+import json
+import sys
+
+options = json.load(sys.stdin)
+for (name, value) in options.items():
+    print('##', name.replace('<', '\\<').replace('>', '\\>'))
+    print(value['description'])
+    print()
+    if 'type' in value:
+        print('*_Type_*:')
+        print(value['type'])
+        print()
+    print()
+    if 'default' in value:
+        print('*_Default_*')
+        print('```')
+        print(json.dumps(value['default'], ensure_ascii=False, separators=(',', ':')))
+        print('```')
+    print()
+    print()
+    if 'example' in value:
+        print('*_Example_*')
+        print('```')
+        print(json.dumps(value['example'], ensure_ascii=False, separators=(',', ':')))
+        print('```')
+    print()
+    print()