diff --git a/nixos/modules/module-list.nix b/nixos/modules/module-list.nix
index fb6bc8e1efe6..6829a4e25788 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/module-list.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/module-list.nix
@@ -142,7 +142,6 @@
   ./programs/seahorse.nix
   ./programs/slock.nix
   ./programs/shadow.nix
-  ./programs/shell.nix
   ./programs/spacefm.nix
   ./programs/singularity.nix
   ./programs/ssh.nix
diff --git a/nixos/modules/programs/shell.nix b/nixos/modules/programs/shell.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index b7f7b91b5fbe..000000000000
--- a/nixos/modules/programs/shell.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,54 +0,0 @@
-# This module defines a standard configuration for NixOS shells.
-
-{ config, lib, ... }:
-
-with lib;
-
-{
-
-  config = {
-
-    environment.shellInit =
-      ''
-        # Set up the per-user profile.
-        mkdir -m 0755 -p "$NIX_USER_PROFILE_DIR"
-        if [ "$(stat -c '%u' "$NIX_USER_PROFILE_DIR")" != "$(id -u)" ]; then
-            echo "WARNING: the per-user profile dir $NIX_USER_PROFILE_DIR should belong to user id $(id -u)" >&2
-        fi
-
-        if [ -w "$HOME" ]; then
-          if ! [ -L "$HOME/.nix-profile" ]; then
-              if [ "$USER" != root ]; then
-                  ln -s "$NIX_USER_PROFILE_DIR/profile" "$HOME/.nix-profile"
-              else
-                  # Root installs in the system-wide profile by default.
-                  ln -s /nix/var/nix/profiles/default "$HOME/.nix-profile"
-              fi
-          fi
-
-          # Subscribe the root user to the NixOS channel by default.
-          if [ "$USER" = root -a ! -e "$HOME/.nix-channels" ]; then
-              echo "${config.system.defaultChannel} nixos" > "$HOME/.nix-channels"
-          fi
-
-          # Create the per-user garbage collector roots directory.
-          NIX_USER_GCROOTS_DIR="/nix/var/nix/gcroots/per-user/$USER"
-          mkdir -m 0755 -p "$NIX_USER_GCROOTS_DIR"
-          if [ "$(stat -c '%u' "$NIX_USER_GCROOTS_DIR")" != "$(id -u)" ]; then
-              echo "WARNING: the per-user gcroots dir $NIX_USER_GCROOTS_DIR should belong to user id $(id -u)" >&2
-          fi
-
-          # Set up a default Nix expression from which to install stuff.
-          if [ ! -e "$HOME/.nix-defexpr" -o -L "$HOME/.nix-defexpr" ]; then
-              rm -f "$HOME/.nix-defexpr"
-              mkdir -p "$HOME/.nix-defexpr"
-              if [ "$USER" != root ]; then
-                  ln -s /nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels "$HOME/.nix-defexpr/channels_root"
-              fi
-          fi
-        fi
-      '';
-
-  };
-
-}
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/misc/nix-daemon.nix b/nixos/modules/services/misc/nix-daemon.nix
index 3263f6954236..ff4e4f5b97d5 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/misc/nix-daemon.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/misc/nix-daemon.nix
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ let
 
   nixVersion = getVersion nix;
 
-  isNix20 = versionAtLeast nixVersion "2.0pre";
   isNix23 = versionAtLeast nixVersion "2.3pre";
 
   makeNixBuildUser = nr:
@@ -28,39 +27,26 @@ let
   nixbldUsers = map makeNixBuildUser (range 1 cfg.nrBuildUsers);
 
   nixConf =
-    let
-      # In Nix < 2.0, If we're using sandbox for builds, then provide
-      # /bin/sh in the sandbox as a bind-mount to bash. This means we
-      # also need to include the entire closure of bash. Nix >= 2.0
-      # provides a /bin/sh by default.
-      sh = pkgs.runtimeShell;
-      binshDeps = pkgs.writeReferencesToFile sh;
-    in
-      pkgs.runCommand "nix.conf" { preferLocalBuild = true; extraOptions = cfg.extraOptions; } (''
-        ${optionalString (!isNix20) ''
-          extraPaths=$(for i in $(cat ${binshDeps}); do if test -d $i; then echo $i; fi; done)
-        ''}
+    assert versionAtLeast nixVersion "2.2";
+    pkgs.runCommand "nix.conf" { preferLocalBuild = true; extraOptions = cfg.extraOptions; } (
+      ''
         cat > $out <<END
         # WARNING: this file is generated from the nix.* options in
         # your NixOS configuration, typically
         # /etc/nixos/configuration.nix.  Do not edit it!
         build-users-group = nixbld
-        ${if isNix20 then "max-jobs" else "build-max-jobs"} = ${toString (cfg.maxJobs)}
-        ${if isNix20 then "cores" else "build-cores"} = ${toString (cfg.buildCores)}
-        ${if isNix20 then "sandbox" else "build-use-sandbox"} = ${if (builtins.isBool cfg.useSandbox) then boolToString cfg.useSandbox else cfg.useSandbox}
-        ${if isNix20 then "extra-sandbox-paths" else "build-sandbox-paths"} = ${toString cfg.sandboxPaths} ${optionalString (!isNix20) "/bin/sh=${sh} $(echo $extraPaths)"}
-        ${if isNix20 then "substituters" else "binary-caches"} = ${toString cfg.binaryCaches}
-        ${if isNix20 then "trusted-substituters" else "trusted-binary-caches"} = ${toString cfg.trustedBinaryCaches}
-        ${if isNix20 then "trusted-public-keys" else "binary-cache-public-keys"} = ${toString cfg.binaryCachePublicKeys}
+        max-jobs = ${toString (cfg.maxJobs)}
+        cores = ${toString (cfg.buildCores)}
+        sandbox = ${if (builtins.isBool cfg.useSandbox) then boolToString cfg.useSandbox else cfg.useSandbox}
+        extra-sandbox-paths = ${toString cfg.sandboxPaths}
+        substituters = ${toString cfg.binaryCaches}
+        trusted-substituters = ${toString cfg.trustedBinaryCaches}
+        trusted-public-keys = ${toString cfg.binaryCachePublicKeys}
         auto-optimise-store = ${boolToString cfg.autoOptimiseStore}
-        ${if isNix20 then ''
-          require-sigs = ${if cfg.requireSignedBinaryCaches then "true" else "false"}
-        '' else ''
-          signed-binary-caches = ${if cfg.requireSignedBinaryCaches then "*" else ""}
-        ''}
+        require-sigs = ${if cfg.requireSignedBinaryCaches then "true" else "false"}
         trusted-users = ${toString cfg.trustedUsers}
         allowed-users = ${toString cfg.allowedUsers}
-        ${optionalString (isNix20 && !cfg.distributedBuilds) ''
+        ${optionalString (!cfg.distributedBuilds) ''
           builders =
         ''}
         system-features = ${toString cfg.systemFeatures}
@@ -422,8 +408,7 @@ in
 
     systemd.services.nix-daemon =
       { path = [ nix pkgs.utillinux config.programs.ssh.package ]
-          ++ optionals cfg.distributedBuilds [ pkgs.gzip ]
-          ++ optionals (!isNix20) [ pkgs.openssl.bin ];
+          ++ optionals cfg.distributedBuilds [ pkgs.gzip ];
 
         environment = cfg.envVars
           // { CURL_CA_BUNDLE = "/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt"; }
@@ -440,34 +425,13 @@ in
         restartTriggers = [ nixConf ];
       };
 
-    nix.envVars =
-      optionalAttrs (!isNix20) {
-        NIX_CONF_DIR = "/etc/nix";
-
-        # Enable the copy-from-other-stores substituter, which allows
-        # builds to be sped up by copying build results from remote
-        # Nix stores.  To do this, mount the remote file system on a
-        # subdirectory of /run/nix/remote-stores.
-        NIX_OTHER_STORES = "/run/nix/remote-stores/*/nix";
-      }
-
-      // optionalAttrs (cfg.distributedBuilds && !isNix20) {
-        NIX_BUILD_HOOK = "${nix}/libexec/nix/build-remote.pl";
-      };
-
     # Set up the environment variables for running Nix.
     environment.sessionVariables = cfg.envVars //
       { NIX_PATH = cfg.nixPath;
       };
 
-    environment.extraInit = optionalString (!isNix20)
+    environment.extraInit =
       ''
-        # Set up secure multi-user builds: non-root users build through the
-        # Nix daemon.
-        if [ "$USER" != root -o ! -w /nix/var/nix/db ]; then
-            export NIX_REMOTE=daemon
-        fi
-      '' + ''
         if [ -e "$HOME/.nix-defexpr/channels" ]; then
           export NIX_PATH="$HOME/.nix-defexpr/channels''${NIX_PATH:+:$NIX_PATH}"
         fi
@@ -479,21 +443,15 @@ in
 
     services.xserver.displayManager.hiddenUsers = map ({ name, ... }: name) nixbldUsers;
 
-    # FIXME: use systemd-tmpfiles to create Nix directories.
     system.activationScripts.nix = stringAfter [ "etc" "users" ]
       ''
-        # Nix initialisation.
-        install -m 0755 -d \
-          /nix/var/nix/gcroots \
-          /nix/var/nix/temproots \
-          /nix/var/nix/userpool \
-          /nix/var/nix/profiles \
-          /nix/var/nix/db \
-          /nix/var/log/nix/drvs
-        install -m 1777 -d \
-          /nix/var/nix/gcroots/per-user \
-          /nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user \
-          /nix/var/nix/gcroots/tmp
+        # Create directories in /nix.
+        ${nix}/bin/nix ping-store --no-net
+
+        # Subscribe the root user to the NixOS channel by default.
+        if [ ! -e "/root/.nix-channels" ]; then
+            echo "${config.system.defaultChannel} nixos" > "/root/.nix-channels"
+        fi
       '';
 
     nix.systemFeatures = mkDefault (
diff --git a/nixos/modules/system/boot/stage-2-init.sh b/nixos/modules/system/boot/stage-2-init.sh
index 03daafa1ce4f..d1de7920df98 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/system/boot/stage-2-init.sh
+++ b/nixos/modules/system/boot/stage-2-init.sh
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ fi
 # Record the boot configuration.
 ln -sfn "$systemConfig" /run/booted-system
 
-# Prevent the booted system form being garbage-collected If it weren't
+# Prevent the booted system from being garbage-collected. If it weren't
 # a gcroot, if we were running a different kernel, switched system,
 # and garbage collected all, we could not load kernel modules anymore.
 ln -sfn /run/booted-system /nix/var/nix/gcroots/booted-system