diff --git a/Makefile.config.in b/Makefile.config.in
index de1ace921..7367d0a3f 100644
--- a/Makefile.config.in
+++ b/Makefile.config.in
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ LIBBROTLI_LIBS = @LIBBROTLI_LIBS@
 LIBCURL_LIBS = @LIBCURL_LIBS@
 LIBSECCOMP_LIBS = @LIBSECCOMP_LIBS@
 LOWDOWN_LIBS = @LOWDOWN_LIBS@
-NIXDOC_LIBS = -lnix_doc
+NIXDOC_LIBS = -llix_doc
 OPENSSL_LIBS = @OPENSSL_LIBS@
 PACKAGE_NAME = @PACKAGE_NAME@
 PACKAGE_VERSION = @PACKAGE_VERSION@
diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index 74d321c61..26540a995 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -148,13 +148,10 @@
             '';
           };
 
-          nix-doc = final.callPackage ./nix-doc/package.nix {};
-
           nix = final.callPackage ./package.nix {
             inherit versionSuffix;
             stdenv = currentStdenv;
             busybox-sandbox-shell = final.busybox-sandbox-shell or final.default-busybox-sandbox-shell;
-            nix-doc = final.nix-doc;
           };
 
           # Export the patched version of boehmgc that Lix uses into the overlay
diff --git a/nix-doc/.gitignore b/lix-doc/.gitignore
similarity index 100%
rename from nix-doc/.gitignore
rename to lix-doc/.gitignore
diff --git a/nix-doc/Cargo.lock b/lix-doc/Cargo.lock
similarity index 99%
rename from nix-doc/Cargo.lock
rename to lix-doc/Cargo.lock
index 6fc63004a..d5028edfe 100644
--- a/nix-doc/Cargo.lock
+++ b/lix-doc/Cargo.lock
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ dependencies = [
 ]
 
 [[package]]
-name = "nix-doc"
+name = "lix-doc"
 version = "0.0.1"
 dependencies = [
  "expect-test",
diff --git a/nix-doc/Cargo.toml b/lix-doc/Cargo.toml
similarity index 70%
rename from nix-doc/Cargo.toml
rename to lix-doc/Cargo.toml
index 21dc54d1b..df4eed932 100644
--- a/nix-doc/Cargo.toml
+++ b/lix-doc/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 [package]
-description = "Nix documentation grepping tool"
+description = "Nix function documentation tool, stripped down into a library"
 edition = "2018"
-name = "nix-doc"
+name = "lix-doc"
 version = "0.0.1"
 license = "BSD-2-Clause OR MIT"
+# upstream details
 homepage = "https://github.com/lf-/nix-doc"
 repository = "https://github.com/lf-/nix-doc"
 
diff --git a/lix-doc/README.md b/lix-doc/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..26049ebd7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lix-doc/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+# lix-doc
+
+This is a stripped down fork of `nix-doc`, used for `:doc` in `nix repl` in
+Lix. It will be replaced in the future with proper support when we get the new
+parser working, but it exists today as a low-risk implementation of an
+important usability feature.
diff --git a/nix-doc/package.nix b/lix-doc/package.nix
similarity index 50%
rename from nix-doc/package.nix
rename to lix-doc/package.nix
index 70a49b9a0..86ab7501e 100644
--- a/nix-doc/package.nix
+++ b/lix-doc/package.nix
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@
 }:
 
 rustPlatform.buildRustPackage {
-  name = "nix-doc";
+  name = "lix-doc";
 
-  cargoHash = "sha256-HXL235loBJnRje7KaMCCCTighv6WNYRrZ/jgkAQbEY0=";
+  cargoLock.lockFile = ./Cargo.lock;
   src = lib.cleanSource ./.;
 }
diff --git a/nix-doc/src/lib.rs b/lix-doc/src/lib.rs
similarity index 100%
rename from nix-doc/src/lib.rs
rename to lix-doc/src/lib.rs
diff --git a/nix-doc/src/pprint.rs b/lix-doc/src/pprint.rs
similarity index 100%
rename from nix-doc/src/pprint.rs
rename to lix-doc/src/pprint.rs
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 89881e190..2cedabad5 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -233,10 +233,13 @@ deps += toml11
 nlohmann_json = dependency('nlohmann_json', required : true)
 deps += nlohmann_json
 
-# nix-doc is a Rust project provided via buildInputs and unfortunately doesn't have any way to be detected.
+# lix-doc is a Rust project provided via buildInputs and unfortunately doesn't have any way to be detected.
 # Just declare it manually to resolve this.
-nix_doc = declare_dependency(link_args : [ '-lnix_doc' ])
-deps += nix_doc
+#
+# FIXME: build this with meson in the future after we drop Make (with which we
+# *absolutely* are not going to make it work)
+lix_doc = declare_dependency(link_args : [ '-llix_doc' ])
+deps += lix_doc
 
 #
 # Build-time tools
diff --git a/package.nix b/package.nix
index b972407f1..d096b5c73 100644
--- a/package.nix
+++ b/package.nix
@@ -48,7 +48,8 @@
 
   busybox-sandbox-shell,
 
-  nix-doc,
+  # internal fork of nix-doc providing :doc in the repl
+  lix-doc ? __forDefaults.lix-doc,
 
   pname ? "nix",
   versionSuffix ? "",
@@ -81,6 +82,8 @@
         ./boehmgc-traceable_allocator-public.diff
       ];
     };
+
+    lix-doc = pkgs.callPackage ./lix-doc/package.nix { };
   },
 }: let
   inherit (__forDefaults) canRunInstalled;
@@ -209,7 +212,7 @@ in stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
     lowdown
     libsodium
     toml11
-    nix-doc
+    lix-doc
   ]
     ++ lib.optionals stdenv.hostPlatform.isLinux [ libseccomp busybox-sandbox-shell ]
     ++ lib.optional stdenv.hostPlatform.isx86_64 libcpuid
diff --git a/src/libcmd/meson.build b/src/libcmd/meson.build
index 167cb0f06..867508926 100644
--- a/src/libcmd/meson.build
+++ b/src/libcmd/meson.build
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ libcmd = library(
     editline,
     lowdown,
     nlohmann_json,
-    nix_doc
+    lix_doc
   ],
   install : true,
   # FIXME(Qyriad): is this right?