diff --git a/default.nix b/default.nix
index fda19c3a149f..9d1475b69618 100644
--- a/default.nix
+++ b/default.nix
@@ -40,7 +40,6 @@ in
 
   # The following are used by nixos-rebuild.
   nixFallback = pkgs.nixUnstable;
-  manifests = config.installer.manifests;
 
   tests = config.tests;
 }
diff --git a/doc/manual/man-nixos-rebuild.xml b/doc/manual/man-nixos-rebuild.xml
index ddf4e40be0c2..4828215977e8 100644
--- a/doc/manual/man-nixos-rebuild.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/man-nixos-rebuild.xml
@@ -25,12 +25,10 @@
       <arg choice='plain'><option>dry-run</option></arg>
       <arg choice='plain'><option>build-vm</option></arg>
       <arg choice='plain'><option>build-vm-with-bootloader</option></arg>
-      <arg choice='plain'><option>pull</option></arg>
     </group>
     <sbr />
     <arg><option>--upgrade</option></arg>
     <arg><option>--install-grub</option></arg>
-    <arg><option>--no-pull</option></arg>
     <arg><option>--no-build-nix</option></arg>
     <arg><option>--fast</option></arg>
     <arg><option>--rollback</option></arg>
@@ -170,17 +168,6 @@ $ ./result/bin/run-*-vm
       partition, which is mounted read-only in the VM.</para>
     </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
-  
-  <varlistentry>
-    <term><option>pull</option></term>
-    <listitem>
-      <para>This operation fetches the latest manifest in the Nixpkgs
-      channel to speed up subsequent <command>nix-env</command>
-      operations.  This is useful if you are not using
-      <command>nix-channel</command> but still want to use pre-built
-      binary packages.  It doesn’t reconfigure the system</para>
-    </listitem>
-  </varlistentry>
 
 </variablelist>
 
diff --git a/modules/installer/cd-dvd/installation-cd-base.nix b/modules/installer/cd-dvd/installation-cd-base.nix
index 375941d24479..1edb2a452360 100644
--- a/modules/installer/cd-dvd/installation-cd-base.nix
+++ b/modules/installer/cd-dvd/installation-cd-base.nix
@@ -42,8 +42,6 @@ in
 
   isoImage.volumeID = "NIXOS_${config.system.nixosVersion}";
 
-  installer.nixosURL = "http://nixos.org/releases/nixos/nixos-${config.system.nixosVersion}";
-
   boot.postBootCommands =
     ''
       # Provide the NixOS/Nixpkgs sources in /etc/nixos.  This is required
diff --git a/modules/installer/tools/nixos-install.sh b/modules/installer/tools/nixos-install.sh
index 4e89770cce56..a968369198e8 100644
--- a/modules/installer/tools/nixos-install.sh
+++ b/modules/installer/tools/nixos-install.sh
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 # - copy closure of Nix to target device
 # - register validity
 # - with a chroot to the target device:
-#   * do a nix-pull
 #   * nix-env -p /nix/var/nix/profiles/system -i <nix-expr for the configuration>
 #   * run the activation script of the configuration (also installs Grub)
 
@@ -36,13 +35,6 @@ if ! test -e "$NIXOS_CONFIG"; then
 fi
     
 
-# Do a nix-pull to speed up building.
-if test -n "@nixosURL@" -a ${NIXOS_PULL:-1} != 0; then
-    mkdir -p /nix/var/nix/channel-cache -m 0755
-    NIX_DOWNLOAD_CACHE=/nix/var/nix/channel-cache \
-        @nix@/bin/nix-pull @nixosURL@/MANIFEST || true
-fi
-
 
 # Mount some stuff in the target root directory.  We bind-mount /etc
 # into the chroot because we need networking and the nixbld user
@@ -107,6 +99,7 @@ export LC_TIME=
 # Create a temporary Nix config file that causes the nixbld users to
 # be used.
 echo "build-users-group = nixbld" > $mountPoint/tmp/nix.conf
+grep binary-caches /etc/nix/nix.conf >> $mountPoint/tmp/nix.conf
 export NIX_CONF_DIR=/tmp
 
 
diff --git a/modules/installer/tools/nixos-rebuild.sh b/modules/installer/tools/nixos-rebuild.sh
index e21a34f996c1..dba4b731f7c4 100644
--- a/modules/installer/tools/nixos-rebuild.sh
+++ b/modules/installer/tools/nixos-rebuild.sh
@@ -18,14 +18,11 @@ The operation is one of the following:
   build-vm-with-bootloader:
             like build-vm, but include a boot loader in the VM
   dry-run:  just show what store paths would be built/downloaded
-  pull:     just pull the NixOS channel manifest and exit
 
 Options:
 
   --upgrade              fetch the latest version of NixOS before rebuilding
   --install-grub         (re-)install the Grub bootloader
-  --pull                 do a nix-pull to get the latest NixOS channel
-                         manifest
   --no-build-nix         don't build the latest Nix from Nixpkgs before
                          building NixOS
   --rollback             restore the previous NixOS configuration (only
@@ -49,7 +46,6 @@ EOF
 # Parse the command line.
 extraBuildFlags=
 action=
-pullManifest=
 buildNix=1
 rollback=
 upgrade=
@@ -60,15 +56,12 @@ while test "$#" -gt 0; do
       --help)
         showSyntax
         ;;
-      switch|boot|test|build|dry-run|build-vm|build-vm-with-bootloader|pull)
+      switch|boot|test|build|dry-run|build-vm|build-vm-with-bootloader)
         action="$i"
         ;;
       --install-grub)
         export NIXOS_INSTALL_GRUB=1
         ;;
-      --pull)
-        pullManifest=1
-        ;;
       --no-build-nix)
         buildNix=
         ;;
@@ -127,24 +120,6 @@ if initctl status nix-daemon 2>&1 | grep -q 'running'; then
 fi
 
 
-# Pull the manifests defined in the configuration (the "manifests"
-# attribute).  Wonderfully hacky.
-if [ -n "$pullManifest" -o "$action" = pull ]; then
-    set -o pipefail
-    manifests=$(nix-instantiate --eval-only --xml --strict '<nixos>' -A manifests \
-        | grep '<string'  | sed 's^.*"\(.*\)".*^\1^g')
-    set +o pipefail
-    if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then exit 1; fi
-
-    mkdir -p /nix/var/nix/channel-cache
-    for i in $manifests; do
-        NIX_DOWNLOAD_CACHE=/nix/var/nix/channel-cache nix-pull $i || true
-    done
-fi
-
-if [ "$action" = pull ]; then exit 0; fi
-
-
 # If ‘--upgrade’ is given, run ‘nix-channel --update nixos’.
 if [ -n "$upgrade" ]; then
     nix-channel --update nixos
diff --git a/modules/installer/tools/tools.nix b/modules/installer/tools/tools.nix
index d7b8766143ac..4eb63a6d16fd 100644
--- a/modules/installer/tools/tools.nix
+++ b/modules/installer/tools/tools.nix
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # This module generates nixos-install, nixos-rebuild,
 # nixos-hardware-scan, etc.
 
-{config, pkgs, modulesPath, ...}:
+{ config, pkgs, modulesPath, ... }:
 
 let
   ### implementation
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ let
 
     inherit (pkgs) perl pathsFromGraph;
     nix = config.environment.nix;
-    nixosURL = cfg.nixosURL;
 
     nixClosure = pkgs.runCommand "closure"
       { exportReferencesGraph = ["refs" config.environment.nix]; }
@@ -84,27 +83,6 @@ in
 {
   options = {
 
-    installer.nixosURL = pkgs.lib.mkOption {
-      default = http://nixos.org/releases/nixos/channels/nixos-unstable;
-      example = http://nixos.org/releases/nixos/nixos-0.1pre1234;
-      description = ''
-        URL of the Nixpkgs distribution to use when building the
-        installation CD.
-      '';
-    };
-
-    installer.manifests = pkgs.lib.mkOption {
-      default = [ http://nixos.org/releases/nixos/channels/nixos-unstable/MANIFEST ];
-      example =
-        [ http://nixos.org/releases/nixpkgs/channels/nixpkgs-unstable/MANIFEST
-          http://nixos.org/releases/nixos/channels/nixos-stable/MANIFEST
-        ];
-      description = ''
-        URLs of manifests to be downloaded when you run
-        <command>nixos-rebuild</command> to speed up builds.
-      '';
-    };
-
     installer.enableGraphicalTools = pkgs.lib.mkOption {
       default = false;
       type = with pkgs.lib.types; bool;
diff --git a/tests/installer.nix b/tests/installer.nix
index e5b47c730059..d57cbb6119ee 100644
--- a/tests/installer.nix
+++ b/tests/installer.nix
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ let
     { services.httpd.enable = true;
       services.httpd.adminAddr = "foo@example.org";
       services.httpd.servedDirs = singleton
-        { urlPath = "/releases/nixos/channels/nixos-unstable";
+        { urlPath = "/binary-cache";
           dir = "/tmp/channel";
         };
 
@@ -129,7 +129,6 @@ let
             "rm /etc/hosts",
             "echo 192.168.1.1 nixos.org > /etc/hosts",
             "ifconfig eth1 up 192.168.1.2",
-            "nixos-rebuild pull",
         );
 
         # Test nix-env.