diff --git a/pkgs/development/compilers/ghc/with-packages.nix b/pkgs/development/compilers/ghc/with-packages.nix
index 2535e28ebc1f..b405a89b6421 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/compilers/ghc/with-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/compilers/ghc/with-packages.nix
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
-{stdenv, ghcPlain, packages ? [], makeWrapper}:
+{stdenv, ghc, packages ? [], makeWrapper}:
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
-  name = "ghc-${ghcPlain.version}-linkdir";
+  name = "ghc-${ghc.version}-linkdir";
 
   allPackages = stdenv.lib.closePropagation packages;
   buildInputs = allPackages ++ [makeWrapper];
@@ -10,58 +10,71 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   unpackPhase = "true";
 
   installPhase = ''
-    originalTopDir="${ghcPlain}/lib/ghc-${ghcPlain.version}"
+    originalTopDir="${ghc}/lib/ghc-${ghc.version}"
     originalPkgDir="$originalTopDir/package.conf.d"
     linkedTopDir="$out/lib"
     linkedPkgDir="$linkedTopDir/package.conf.d"
 
     ensureDir $out/bin
-    cd $out/bin
-
-    echo "Generating wrappers ..."
-
-    for prg in ghc ghci ghc-${ghcPlain.version} ghci-${ghcPlain.version}; do
-      makeWrapper ${ghcPlain}/bin/$prg $out/bin/$prg --add-flags "-B$linkedTopDir"
-    done
-
-    for prg in runghc runhaskell; do
-      makeWrapper ${ghcPlain}/bin/$prg $out/bin/$prg --add-flags "-f $out/bin/ghc"
-    done
-
-    for prg in ghc-pkg ghc-pkg-${ghcPlain.version}; do
-      makeWrapper ${ghcPlain}/bin/$prg $out/bin/$prg --add-flags "--global-conf $linkedPkgDir"
-    done
-
-    for prg in hp2ps hpc hasktags hsc2hs haddock haddock-${ghcPlain.version}; do
-      test -x ${ghcPlain}/bin/$prg && ln -s ${ghcPlain}/bin/$prg $out/bin/$prg
-    done
-
     ensureDir $linkedTopDir
-    cd $linkedTopDir
+    ensureDir $linkedPkgDir
+
+    echo "Linking GHC core libraries:"
 
     if test -f $originalTopDir/settings; then
-      echo "Linking $originalTopDir/settings ..."
-      ln -s $originalTopDir/settings .
+      echo -n "Linking $originalTopDir/settings "
+      ln -s $originalTopDir/settings $linkedTopDir
+      echo .
     fi
 
-    ensureDir $linkedPkgDir
-    cd $linkedPkgDir
+    echo -n "Linking $originalPkgDir "
+    for f in $originalPkgDir/*.conf; do
+      ln -s $f $linkedPkgDir
+      echo -n .
+    done
+    echo
 
-    echo "Linking $originalPkgDir ..."
-    ln -s $originalPkgDir/*.conf .
+    echo "Linking selected packages and dependencies:"
 
     for currentPath in ${stdenv.lib.concatStringsSep " " allPackages}; do
-      currentPkgDir="$currentPath/lib/ghc-pkgs/ghc-${ghcPlain.version}"
-      if test -d $currentPkgDir; then
-        echo "Linking $currentPkgDir ..."
-        ln -s $currentPkgDir/*.conf .
-      fi
+      currentPkgDir="$currentPath/lib/ghc-pkgs/ghc-${ghc.version}"
+      echo -n "Linking $currentPath "
+      for f in $currentPath/bin/*; do
+        ln -s $f $out/bin
+        echo -n .
+      done
+      for f in $currentPkgDir/*.conf; do
+        ln -s $f $linkedPkgDir
+        echo -n .
+      done
+      echo
     done
 
     echo "Generating package cache ..."
-    ${ghcPlain}/bin/ghc-pkg --global-conf $linkedPkgDir recache
+    ${ghc}/bin/ghc-pkg --global-conf $linkedPkgDir recache
 
+    echo -n "Generating wrappers "
+
+    for prg in ghc ghci ghc-${ghc.version} ghci-${ghc.version}; do
+      makeWrapper ${ghc}/bin/$prg $out/bin/$prg --add-flags "-B$linkedTopDir"
+      echo -n .
+    done
+
+    for prg in runghc runhaskell; do
+      makeWrapper ${ghc}/bin/$prg $out/bin/$prg --add-flags "-f $out/bin/ghc"
+      echo -n .
+    done
+
+    for prg in ghc-pkg ghc-pkg-${ghc.version}; do
+      makeWrapper ${ghc}/bin/$prg $out/bin/$prg --add-flags "--global-conf $linkedPkgDir"
+      echo -n .
+    done
+
+    for prg in hp2ps hpc hasktags hsc2hs haddock haddock-${ghc.version}; do
+      test -x ${ghc}/bin/$prg && ln -s ${ghc}/bin/$prg $out/bin/$prg && echo -n .
+    done
+    echo
   '';
 
-  # inherit ghc.meta;
+  meta = ghc.meta;
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/haskell-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/haskell-packages.nix
index 7a62eb070ebe..8a4d083f708d 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/haskell-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/haskell-packages.nix
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ let result = let callPackage = x : y : modifyPrio (newScope result.final x y);
                                # top of this file.
 
   ghc = callPackage ../development/compilers/ghc/wrapper.nix {
-    ghc = ghc;
+    ghc = ghc; # refers to ghcPlain
   };
 
   # An experimental wrapper around ghcPlain that does not automatically
@@ -113,6 +113,7 @@ let result = let callPackage = x : y : modifyPrio (newScope result.final x y);
   # argument to this function.
 
   ghcWithPackages = pkgs : callPackage ../development/compilers/ghc/with-packages.nix {
+    ghc = ghc; # refers to ghcPlain
     packages = pkgs self;
   };