diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 6e220b56..5a1939f5 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -35,14 +35,6 @@ fi
 
 NEED_PROG(perl, perl)
 
-AC_ARG_WITH(nix, AC_HELP_STRING([--with-nix=PATH],
-  [prefix of nix]),
-  nix=$withval, nix=/nix-missing)
-AC_SUBST(nix)
-
-PATH="$nix/bin:$PATH"
-export PATH
-
 NEED_PROG([NIX_STORE_PROGRAM], [nix-store])
 
 AC_MSG_CHECKING([whether $NIX_STORE_PROGRAM is recent enough])
@@ -61,21 +53,8 @@ else
     AC_MSG_ERROR([`$NIX_STORE_PROGRAM' doesn't support `--timeout'; please use a newer version.])
 fi
 
-old_CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS"
-old_LIBS="$LIBS"
+PKG_CHECK_MODULES([NIX], [nix-main nix-expr nix-store])
 
-CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS -I$nix/include/nix"
-LDFLAGS="$LDFLAGS -L$nix/lib"
-
-AC_CHECK_HEADER([store-api.hh], [:],
-  [AC_MSG_ERROR([Nix headers not found; please install Nix or check the `--with-nix' option.])])
-AC_CHECK_LIB([nixexpr], [_ZN3nix9EvalStateC1ERKSt4listISsSaISsEE], [:],
-  [AC_MSG_ERROR([Nix library not found; please install Nix or check the `--with-nix' option.])])
-
-CPPFLAGS="$old_CPPFLAGS"
-LIBS="$old_LIBS"
-
-PKG_CHECK_MODULES([BDW_GC], [bdw-gc])
 PKG_CHECK_MODULES([GUILE], [guile-2.0], [HAVE_GUILE=yes], [HAVE_GUILE=no])
 
 if test "x$HAVE_GUILE" = xyes; then
diff --git a/release.nix b/release.nix
index ecc28d09..4ad17bd7 100644
--- a/release.nix
+++ b/release.nix
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ in rec {
       version = builtins.readFile ./version;
 
       buildInputs =
-        [ perl libxslt dblatex tetex nukeReferences pkgconfig boehmgc git openssl ];
+        [ perl libxslt dblatex tetex nukeReferences pkgconfig nixUnstable git openssl ];
 
       versionSuffix = if officialRelease then "" else "pre${toString hydraSrc.revCount}-${hydraSrc.gitTag}";
 
@@ -51,9 +51,7 @@ in rec {
       '';
 
       configureFlags =
-        [ "--with-nix=${nixUnstable}"
-          "--with-docbook-xsl=${docbook_xsl}/xml/xsl/docbook"
-        ];
+        [ "--with-docbook-xsl=${docbook_xsl}/xml/xsl/docbook" ];
 
       postDist = ''
         make -C doc/manual install prefix="$out"
@@ -128,10 +126,9 @@ in rec {
     releaseTools.nixBuild {
       name = "hydra";
       src = tarball;
-      configureFlags = "--with-nix=${nix}";
 
       buildInputs =
-        [ makeWrapper libtool unzip nukeReferences pkgconfig boehmgc sqlite
+        [ makeWrapper libtool unzip nukeReferences pkgconfig sqlite
           gitAndTools.topGit mercurial darcs subversion bazaar openssl bzip2
           guile # optional, for Guile + Guix support
           perlDeps perl
diff --git a/src/c/Makefile.am b/src/c/Makefile.am
index f5ea536e..c31849d9 100644
--- a/src/c/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/c/Makefile.am
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 bin_PROGRAMS = hydra-eval-jobs
 
 hydra_eval_jobs_SOURCES = hydra-eval-jobs.cc
-hydra_eval_jobs_LDADD = -lnixmain -lnixexpr -L$(nix)/lib/nix $(BDW_GC_LIBS)
+hydra_eval_jobs_LDADD = $(NIX_LIBS)
 
-AM_CXXFLAGS =					\
- -I$(nix)/include/nix				\
-  $(BDW_GC_CFLAGS)
+AM_CXXFLAGS = $(NIX_CFLAGS)