diff --git a/pkgs/desktops/gnome-2/default.nix b/pkgs/desktops/gnome-2/default.nix
index cecd56ad4f27..c2e1c062e9e3 100644
--- a/pkgs/desktops/gnome-2/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/desktops/gnome-2/default.nix
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 { callPackage, self, stdenv, gettext, gvfs, libunique, overrides ? {} }:
-{
-  __overrides = overrides;
-
+let overridden = set // overrides; set = with overridden; {
   # Backward compatibility.
   gtkdoc = self.gtk_doc;
   startupnotification = self.startup_notification;
@@ -117,4 +115,4 @@
 
   libglademm = callPackage ./bindings/libglademm { };
 
-}
+}; in overridden
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index e1cc29ea961a..611aba1dec00 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -129,19 +129,17 @@ let
 
 
   # The package compositions.  Yes, this isn't properly indented.
-  pkgsFun = pkgs: __overrides:
+  pkgsFun = pkgs: overrides:
     with helperFunctions;
-    let defaultScope = pkgs // pkgs.xorg; in
-    helperFunctions // rec {
-
-  # `__overrides' is a magic attribute that causes the attributes in
-  # its value to be added to the surrounding `rec'.  We'll remove this
-  # eventually.
-  inherit __overrides pkgs;
+    let defaultScope = pkgs // pkgs.xorg; self = self_ // overrides;
+    self_ = with self; helperFunctions // {
 
   # Make some arguments passed to all-packages.nix available
   inherit system stdenvType platform;
 
+  # Allow callPackage to fill in the pkgs argument
+  inherit pkgs;
+
 
   # We use `callPackage' to be able to omit function arguments that
   # can be obtained from `pkgs' or `pkgs.xorg' (i.e. `defaultScope').
@@ -6033,7 +6031,7 @@ let
 
   perlPackages = recurseIntoAttrs (import ./perl-packages.nix {
     inherit pkgs;
-    __overrides = (config.perlPackageOverrides or (p: {})) pkgs;
+    overrides = (config.perlPackageOverrides or (p: {})) pkgs;
   });
 
   perl510Packages = import ./perl-packages.nix {
@@ -6041,7 +6039,7 @@ let
       perl = perl510;
       buildPerlPackage = import ../development/perl-modules/generic perl510;
     };
-    __overrides = (config.perl510PackageOverrides or (p: {})) pkgs;
+    overrides = (config.perl510PackageOverrides or (p: {})) pkgs;
   };
 
   perl514Packages = import ./perl-packages.nix {
@@ -6049,7 +6047,7 @@ let
       perl = perl514;
       buildPerlPackage = import ../development/perl-modules/generic perl514;
     };
-    __overrides = (config.perl514PackageOverrides or (p: {})) pkgs;
+    overrides = (config.perl514PackageOverrides or (p: {})) pkgs;
   };
 
   perlXMLParser = perlPackages.XMLParser;
@@ -6177,7 +6175,7 @@ let
 
   rPackages = recurseIntoAttrs (import ./r-packages.nix {
     inherit pkgs;
-    __overrides = (config.rPackageOverrides or (p: {})) pkgs;
+    overrides = (config.rPackageOverrides or (p: {})) pkgs;
   });
 
   ### SERVERS
@@ -10469,4 +10467,4 @@ let
   adobeReader = adobe-reader;
 
 
-}; in pkgs
+}; in self; in pkgs
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/perl-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/perl-packages.nix
index 99571397ee51..fa8df33edf3b 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/perl-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/perl-packages.nix
@@ -5,16 +5,14 @@
    for each package in a separate file: the call to the function would
    be almost as must code as the function itself. */
 
-{pkgs, __overrides}:
+{pkgs, overrides}:
 
-rec {
+let self = _self // overrides; _self = with self; {
 
   inherit (pkgs) buildPerlPackage fetchurl stdenv perl fetchsvn gnused;
 
   inherit (stdenv.lib) maintainers;
 
-  inherit __overrides;
-
   # Helper functions for packages that use Module::Build to build.
   buildPerlModule = { buildInputs ? [], ... } @ args:
     buildPerlPackage (args // {
@@ -9369,4 +9367,4 @@ rec {
     };
   };
 
-}
+}; in self
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/r-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/r-packages.nix
index 8280b6c2d53c..f3759c14baac 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/r-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/r-packages.nix
@@ -1,15 +1,13 @@
 /* This file defines the composition for CRAN (R) packages. */
 
-{pkgs, __overrides}:
+{pkgs, overrides}:
 
-rec {
+let self = _self // overrides; _self = with self; {
 
   inherit (pkgs) buildRPackage fetchurl stdenv R;
 
   inherit (stdenv.lib) maintainers;
 
-  inherit __overrides;
-
   abind = buildRPackage rec {
     name = "abind-1.4-0";
     src = fetchurl {
@@ -243,4 +241,4 @@ rec {
     };
     propagatedBuildInputs = [ DBI gsubfn proto chron RSQLite RSQLiteExtfuns ];
   };
-}
+}; in self