diff --git a/src/hydra-queue-runner/build-remote.cc b/src/hydra-queue-runner/build-remote.cc
index f19008dc..058af02c 100644
--- a/src/hydra-queue-runner/build-remote.cc
+++ b/src/hydra-queue-runner/build-remote.cc
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 #include "build-result.hh"
 #include "path.hh"
 #include "serve-protocol.hh"
+#include "serve-protocol-impl.hh"
 #include "state.hh"
 #include "current-process.hh"
 #include "processes.hh"
@@ -123,13 +124,10 @@ static void copyClosureTo(
        garbage-collect paths that are already there. Optionally, ask
        the remote host to substitute missing paths. */
     // FIXME: substitute output pollutes our build log
-    conn.to << ServeProto::Command::QueryValidPaths << 1 << useSubstitutes;
-    ServeProto::write(destStore, conn, closure);
-    conn.to.flush();
-
     /* Get back the set of paths that are already valid on the remote
        host. */
-    auto present = ServeProto::Serialise<StorePathSet>::read(destStore, conn);
+    auto present = conn.queryValidPaths(
+        destStore, true, closure, useSubstitutes);
 
     if (present.size() == closure.size()) return;
 
@@ -195,33 +193,6 @@ static std::pair<Path, AutoCloseFD> openLogFile(const std::string & logDir, cons
     return {std::move(logFile), std::move(logFD)};
 }
 
-/**
- * @param conn is not fully initialized; it is this functions job to set
- * the `remoteVersion` field after the handshake is completed.
- * Therefore, no `ServeProto::Serialize` functions can be used until
- * that field is set.
- */
-static void handshake(Machine::Connection & conn, unsigned int repeats)
-{
-    constexpr ServeProto::Version our_version = 0x206;
-
-    conn.to << SERVE_MAGIC_1 << our_version;
-    conn.to.flush();
-
-    unsigned int magic = readInt(conn.from);
-    if (magic != SERVE_MAGIC_2)
-        throw Error("protocol mismatch with ‘nix-store --serve’ on ‘%1%’", conn.machine->sshName);
-    conn.remoteVersion = readInt(conn.from);
-    // Now `conn` is initialized.
-    if (GET_PROTOCOL_MAJOR(conn.remoteVersion) != 0x200)
-        throw Error("unsupported ‘nix-store --serve’ protocol version on ‘%1%’", conn.machine->sshName);
-    if (GET_PROTOCOL_MINOR(conn.remoteVersion) < 3 && repeats > 0)
-        throw Error("machine ‘%1%’ does not support repeating a build; please upgrade it to Nix 1.12", conn.machine->sshName);
-
-    // Do not attempt to speak a newer version of the protocol
-    conn.remoteVersion = std::min(conn.remoteVersion, our_version);
-}
-
 static BasicDerivation sendInputs(
     State & state,
     Step & step,
@@ -291,10 +262,7 @@ static BuildResult performBuild(
     counter & nrStepsBuilding
 )
 {
-    conn.to << ServeProto::Command::BuildDerivation << localStore.printStorePath(drvPath);
-    writeDerivation(conn.to, localStore, drv);
-    ServeProto::write(localStore, conn, options);
-    conn.to.flush();
+    conn.putBuildDerivationRequest(localStore, drvPath, drv, options);
 
     BuildResult result;
 
@@ -498,9 +466,13 @@ void State::buildRemote(ref<Store> destStore,
         });
 
         Machine::Connection conn {
-            .from = child.from.get(),
-            .to = child.to.get(),
-            .machine = machine,
+            {
+                .to = child.to.get(),
+                .from = child.from.get(),
+                /* Handshake. */
+                .remoteVersion = 0xdadbeef, // FIXME avoid dummy initialize
+            },
+            /*.machine =*/ machine,
         };
 
         Finally updateStats([&]() {
@@ -508,14 +480,26 @@ void State::buildRemote(ref<Store> destStore,
             bytesSent += conn.to.written;
         });
 
+        constexpr ServeProto::Version our_version = 0x206;
+
         try {
-          build_remote::handshake(conn, buildOptions.nrRepeats);
+            conn.remoteVersion = decltype(conn)::handshake(
+                conn.to,
+                conn.from,
+                our_version,
+                machine->sshName);
         } catch (EndOfFile & e) {
             child.pid.wait();
             std::string s = chomp(readFile(result.logFile));
             throw Error("cannot connect to ‘%1%’: %2%", machine->sshName, s);
         }
 
+        // Do not attempt to speak a newer version of the protocol.
+        //
+        // Per https://github.com/NixOS/nix/issues/9584 should be handled as
+        // part of `handshake` in upstream nix.
+        conn.remoteVersion = std::min(conn.remoteVersion, our_version);
+
         {
             auto info(machine->state->connectInfo.lock());
             info->consecutiveFailures = 0;
diff --git a/src/hydra-queue-runner/state.hh b/src/hydra-queue-runner/state.hh
index 830f0598..82481ab5 100644
--- a/src/hydra-queue-runner/state.hh
+++ b/src/hydra-queue-runner/state.hh
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 #include "sync.hh"
 #include "nar-extractor.hh"
 #include "serve-protocol.hh"
+#include "serve-protocol-impl.hh"
 
 
 typedef unsigned int BuildID;
@@ -302,29 +303,9 @@ struct Machine
     }
 
     // A connection to a machine
-    struct Connection {
-        nix::FdSource from;
-        nix::FdSink to;
-        nix::ServeProto::Version remoteVersion;
-
+    struct Connection : nix::ServeProto::BasicClientConnection {
         // Backpointer to the machine
         ptr machine;
-
-        operator nix::ServeProto::ReadConn ()
-        {
-            return {
-                .from = from,
-                .version = remoteVersion,
-            };
-        }
-
-        operator nix::ServeProto::WriteConn ()
-        {
-            return {
-                .to = to,
-                .version = remoteVersion,
-            };
-        }
     };
 };