diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index acd9e4745..ddb463bcf 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -265,6 +265,7 @@ brotli = [
 ]
 
 openssl = dependency('libcrypto', 'openssl', required : true, include_type : 'system')
+ncurses = dependency('ncurses', required : true, include_type : 'system')
 
 # FIXME: confirm we actually support such old versions of aws-sdk-cpp
 aws_sdk = dependency('aws-cpp-sdk-core', required : false, version : '>=1.8', include_type : 'system')
diff --git a/misc/capnproto.nix b/misc/capnproto.nix
index 0160050a0..4d09a2892 100644
--- a/misc/capnproto.nix
+++ b/misc/capnproto.nix
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # FIXME: upstream to nixpkgs (do NOT build with gcc due to gcc coroutine bugs)
 {
+  binutils,
   lib,
   stdenv,
   fetchFromGitHub,
@@ -8,6 +9,20 @@
   zlib,
 }:
 assert stdenv.cc.isClang;
+let
+  # HACK: work around https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/177129
+  # Though this is an issue between Clang and GCC,
+  # so it may not get fixed anytime soon...
+  empty-libgcc_eh = stdenv.mkDerivation {
+    pname = "empty-libgcc_eh";
+    version = "0";
+    dontUnpack = true;
+    installPhase = ''
+      mkdir -p "$out"/lib
+      "${binutils}"/bin/ar r "$out"/lib/libgcc_eh.a
+    '';
+  };
+in
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   pname = "capnproto";
   version = "1.0.2";
@@ -24,7 +39,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   propagatedBuildInputs = [
     openssl
     zlib
-  ];
+  ] ++ lib.optional (stdenv.cc.isClang && stdenv.targetPlatform.isStatic) empty-libgcc_eh;
 
   # FIXME: separate the binaries from the stuff that user systems actually use
   # This runs into a terrible UX issue in Lix and I just don't want to debug it
diff --git a/package.nix b/package.nix
index bb5ae1dee..5c66b8446 100644
--- a/package.nix
+++ b/package.nix
@@ -97,10 +97,10 @@
         # Enable ANSI arrow keys.
         (lib.enableFeature true "arrow-keys")
         # Use termcap library to query terminal size.
-        (lib.enableFeature (ncurses != null) "termcap")
+        (lib.enableFeature true "termcap")
       ];
 
-      buildInputs = (prev.buildInputs or [ ]) ++ [ ncurses ];
+      propagatedBuildInputs = (prev.propagatedBuildInputs or [ ]) ++ [ ncurses ];
     });
 
     build-release-notes = callPackage ./maintainers/build-release-notes.nix { };
@@ -245,9 +245,10 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
 
   nativeBuildInputs =
     [
-      python3
-      python3.pkgs.pytest
-      python3.pkgs.pytest-xdist
+      (python3.pythonOnBuildForHost.withPackages (p: [
+        p.pytest
+        p.pytest-xdist
+      ]))
       meson
       ninja
       cmake
diff --git a/src/libcmd/meson.build b/src/libcmd/meson.build
index 0a3ff8620..82071b3b2 100644
--- a/src/libcmd/meson.build
+++ b/src/libcmd/meson.build
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ libcmd = library(
     liblixfetchers,
     liblixmain,
     boehm,
+    ncurses,
     editline,
     lowdown,
     nlohmann_json,