diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/misc/binutils/default.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/misc/binutils/default.nix
index 2eb9d43bcbec..9c359865af8f 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/misc/binutils/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/misc/binutils/default.nix
@@ -1,30 +1,13 @@
 { stdenv, fetchurl, noSysDirs, zlib, cross ? null, gold ? false, bison ? null, flex2535 ? null, bc ? null, dejagnu ? null }:
 
-let
-    basename = "binutils-2.21.1a";
-in
+let basename = "binutils-2.22"; in
+
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   name = basename + stdenv.lib.optionalString (cross != null) "-${cross.config}";
 
-  # WARNING: Upstream made a mistake in packaging that may mean anyone
-  # but the FSF hosting this tarball is accidentally in violation of
-  # the GPL. We can't update binutils until the next stdenv-updates,
-  # so we are stuck with this version. The issue is discussed in
-  # this email: http://sourceware.org/ml/binutils/2011-08/msg00198.html
-  # The tarball for this minor version will not be fixed, as only the
-  # tarballs for the latest minor version of each major version will
-  # be repackaged. The fixed sources for the closest version to this one
-  # can be found at mirror://gnu/binutils/binutils-2.21.1a.tar.bz2
-  # or http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/binutils/binutils-2.21.1a.tar.bz2
-  # The sources missing from this tarball come from cgen. It is unclear
-  # WHICH sources should be included, but the cvs tree can be checked out
-  # by:
-  # cvs -z 9 -d :pserver:anoncvs@sourceware.org:/cvs/src login
-  # {enter "anoncvs" as the password}
-  # cvs -z 9 -d :pserver:anoncvs@sourceware.org:/cvs/src co cgen
   src = fetchurl {
     url = "mirror://gnu/binutils/${basename}.tar.bz2";
-    sha256 = "0m7nmd7gc9d9md43wbrv65hz6lbi2crqwryzpigv19ray1lzmv6d";
+    sha256 = "1a9w66v5dwvbnawshjwqcgz7km6kw6ihkzp6sswv9ycc3knzhykc";
   };
 
   patches = [