diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/clang-wrapper/default.nix b/pkgs/build-support/clang-wrapper/default.nix
index 05b8194697e1..49ee34e99263 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/clang-wrapper/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/clang-wrapper/default.nix
@@ -18,21 +18,21 @@ let
 
   clangVersion = (builtins.parseDrvName clang.name).version;
   clangName = (builtins.parseDrvName clang.name).name;
-  
+
 in
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation {
   name =
     (if name != "" then name else clangName + "-wrapper") +
     (if clang != null && clangVersion != "" then "-" + clangVersion else "");
-  
+
   builder = ./builder.sh;
   setupHook = ./setup-hook.sh;
   clangWrapper = ./clang-wrapper.sh;
   ldWrapper = ./ld-wrapper.sh;
   utils = ./utils.sh;
   addFlags = ./add-flags;
-  
+
   inherit nativeTools nativeLibc nativePrefix clang clangVersion libcxx;
 
   libcxxabi = libcxx.abi or null;
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   binutils = if nativeTools then null else binutils;
   # The wrapper scripts use 'cat', so we may need coreutils
   coreutils = if nativeTools then null else coreutils;
-  
+
   langC = true;
   langCC = true;
   shell = if shell == "" then stdenv.shell else
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
        if stdenv.lib.hasSuffix "pc-gnu" stdenv.cross.config then "ld.so.1" else
        abort "don't know the name of the dynamic linker for this platform");
   };
-  
+
   meta =
     let clang_ = if clang != null then clang else {}; in
     (if clang_ ? meta then removeAttrs clang.meta ["priority"] else {}) //
diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/gcc-wrapper/default.nix b/pkgs/build-support/gcc-wrapper/default.nix
index 58dde3485ca0..1f521f405850 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/gcc-wrapper/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/gcc-wrapper/default.nix
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   name =
     (if name != "" then name else gccName + "-wrapper") +
     (if gcc != null && gccVersion != "" then "-" + gccVersion else "");
-  
+
   builder = ./builder.sh;
   setupHook = ./setup-hook.sh;
   gccWrapper = ./gcc-wrapper.sh;
@@ -39,13 +39,13 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   ldSolarisWrapper = ./ld-solaris-wrapper.sh;
   utils = ./utils.sh;
   addFlags = ./add-flags;
-  
+
   inherit nativeTools nativeLibc nativePrefix gcc;
   libc = if nativeLibc then null else libc;
   binutils = if nativeTools then null else binutils;
   # The wrapper scripts use 'cat', so we may need coreutils
   coreutils = if nativeTools then null else coreutils;
-  
+
   langC = if nativeTools then true else gcc.langC;
   langCC = if nativeTools then true else gcc.langCC;
   langFortran = if nativeTools then false else gcc ? langFortran;
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
        if stdenv.lib.hasSuffix "pc-gnu" stdenv.cross.config then "ld.so.1" else
        abort "don't know the name of the dynamic linker for this platform");
   };
-  
+
   meta =
     let gcc_ = if gcc != null then gcc else {}; in
     (if gcc_ ? meta then removeAttrs gcc.meta ["priority"] else {}) //
diff --git a/pkgs/stdenv/adapters.nix b/pkgs/stdenv/adapters.nix
index 662f3307b463..85063621815c 100644
--- a/pkgs/stdenv/adapters.nix
+++ b/pkgs/stdenv/adapters.nix
@@ -2,8 +2,7 @@
    a new stdenv with different behaviour, e.g. using a different C
    compiler. */
 
-{dietlibc, fetchurl, runCommand}:
-
+pkgs:
 
 rec {
 
@@ -57,13 +56,13 @@ rec {
 
         NIX_GCC = import ../build-support/gcc-wrapper {
           inherit stdenv;
-          libc = dietlibc;
+          libc = pkgs.dietlibc;
           inherit (stdenv.gcc) gcc binutils nativeTools nativePrefix;
           nativeLibc = false;
         };
       });
       isDietLibC = true;
-    } // {inherit fetchurl;};
+    };
 
 
   # Return a modified stdenv that uses klibc to create small
@@ -80,7 +79,7 @@ rec {
         configureFlags =
           args.configureFlags or "" + " --disable-shared"; # brrr...
 
-        NIX_GCC = runCommand "klibc-wrapper" {} ''
+        NIX_GCC = pkgs.runCommand "klibc-wrapper" {} ''
           mkdir -p $out/bin
           ln -s ${klibc}/bin/klcc $out/bin/gcc
           ln -s ${klibc}/bin/klcc $out/bin/cc
@@ -90,7 +89,7 @@ rec {
       });
       isKlibc = true;
       isStatic = true;
-    } // {inherit fetchurl;};
+    };
 
 
   # Return a modified stdenv that tries to build statically linked
@@ -103,7 +102,7 @@ rec {
           + " --disable-shared"; # brrr...
       });
       isStatic = true;
-    } // {inherit fetchurl;};
+    };
 
 
   # Return a modified stdenv that builds static libraries instead of
@@ -115,7 +114,7 @@ rec {
           toString args.configureFlags or ""
           + " --enable-static --disable-shared";
       });
-    } // {inherit fetchurl;};
+    };
 
 
   # Return a modified stdenv that adds a cross compiler to the
@@ -277,7 +276,7 @@ rec {
   */
   replaceMaintainersField = stdenv: pkgs: maintainers: stdenv //
     { mkDerivation = args:
-        pkgs.lib.recursiveUpdate
+        stdenv.lib.recursiveUpdate
           (stdenv.mkDerivation args)
           { meta.maintainers = maintainers; };
     };
@@ -354,4 +353,17 @@ rec {
       });
     };
 
+
+  /* Modify a stdenv so that it used the Gold linker. */
+  useGoldLinker = stdenv:
+    let
+      binutils = stdenv.gcc.binutils;
+      binutils' = pkgs.runCommand "${binutils.name}-gold" { }
+        ''
+          mkdir -p $out/bin
+          ln -s ${binutils}/bin/* $out/bin/
+          ln -sfn ${binutils}/bin/ld.gold $out/bin/ld
+        ''; # */
+    in overrideGCC stdenv (stdenv.gcc.override { binutils = binutils'; });
+
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/stdenv/linux/default.nix b/pkgs/stdenv/linux/default.nix
index 408c362bedbc..3d424c904ba4 100644
--- a/pkgs/stdenv/linux/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/stdenv/linux/default.nix
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@
 
 rec {
 
+  lib = import ../../../lib;
+
   bootstrapFiles =
     if system == "i686-linux" then import ./bootstrap/i686
     else if system == "x86_64-linux" then import ./bootstrap/x86_64
@@ -134,9 +136,9 @@ rec {
 
   # A helper function to call gcc-wrapper.
   wrapGCC =
-    {gcc ? bootstrapTools, libc, binutils, coreutils, shell ? "", name ? "bootstrap-gcc-wrapper"}:
+    { gcc ? bootstrapTools, libc, binutils, coreutils, shell ? "", name ? "bootstrap-gcc-wrapper" }:
 
-    import ../../build-support/gcc-wrapper {
+    lib.makeOverridable (import ../../build-support/gcc-wrapper) {
       nativeTools = false;
       nativeLibc = false;
       inherit gcc binutils coreutils libc shell name;
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 243c021d16d5..785e22f95e98 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ let
     (import ../build-support/trivial-builders.nix { inherit (pkgs) stdenv; inherit (pkgs.xorg) lndir; });
 
   stdenvAdapters =
-    import ../stdenv/adapters.nix { inherit (pkgs) dietlibc fetchurl runCommand; };
+    import ../stdenv/adapters.nix pkgs;
 
 
   # Allow packages to be overriden globally via the `packageOverrides'
@@ -3060,9 +3060,9 @@ let
     inherit stdenv coreutils zlib;
   };
 
-  wrapClang = wrapClangWith (import ../build-support/clang-wrapper) glibc;
+  wrapClang = wrapClangWith (makeOverridable (import ../build-support/clang-wrapper)) glibc;
 
-  wrapGCC = wrapGCCWith (import ../build-support/gcc-wrapper) glibc;
+  wrapGCC = wrapGCCWith (makeOverridable (import ../build-support/gcc-wrapper)) glibc;
 
   wrapGCCCross =
     {gcc, libc, binutils, cross, shell ? "", name ? "gcc-cross-wrapper"}: