diff --git a/doc/configuration.xml b/doc/configuration.xml
index caff1e510cdd..12e3b8ae851a 100644
--- a/doc/configuration.xml
+++ b/doc/configuration.xml
@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@
          xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
          xml:id="chap-packageconfig">
 
-<title><filename>~/.nixpkgs/config.nix</filename>: global configuration</title>
+<title>Global configuration</title>
 
 <para>Nix packages can be configured to allow or deny certain options.</para>
 
 <para>To apply the configuration edit
-<filename>~/.nixpkgs/config.nix</filename> and set it like
+<filename>~/.config/nixpkgs/config.nix</filename> and set it like
 
 <programlisting>
 {
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ packages via <literal>packageOverrides</literal></title>
 
 <para>You can define a function called
 <varname>packageOverrides</varname> in your local
-<filename>~/.nixpkgs/config.nix</filename> to overide nix packages.  It
+<filename>~/.config/nixpkgs/config.nix</filename> to overide nix packages.  It
 must be a function that takes pkgs as an argument and return modified
 set of packages.
 
diff --git a/doc/functions.xml b/doc/functions.xml
index 6374c15ddf2b..5c654ffb9562 100644
--- a/doc/functions.xml
+++ b/doc/functions.xml
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@
       evaluation-per-function application incurs a performance penalty,
       which can become a problem if many overrides are used.
       It is only intended for ad-hoc customisation, such as in
-      <filename>~/.nixpkgs/config.nix</filename>.
+      <filename>~/.config/nixpkgs/config.nix</filename>.
     </para>
     </warning>
 
diff --git a/doc/languages-frameworks/haskell.md b/doc/languages-frameworks/haskell.md
index 6728f4abba0e..f16077cced4f 100644
--- a/doc/languages-frameworks/haskell.md
+++ b/doc/languages-frameworks/haskell.md
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ its normal core packages:
         mtl-2.2.1
 
 This function allows users to define their own development environment by means
-of an override. After adding the following snippet to `~/.nixpkgs/config.nix`,
+of an override. After adding the following snippet to `~/.config/nixpkgs/config.nix`,
 
     {
       packageOverrides = super: let self = super.pkgs; in
@@ -522,7 +522,7 @@ file with `cabal2nix`:
     $ cd ~/src/foo && cabal2nix . >default.nix
     $ cd ~/src/bar && cabal2nix . >default.nix
 
-Then edit your `~/.nixpkgs/config.nix` file to register those builds in the
+Then edit your `~/.config/nixpkgs/config.nix` file to register those builds in the
 default Haskell package set:
 
       {
@@ -554,7 +554,7 @@ Every Haskell package set takes a function called `overrides` that you can use
 to manipulate the package as much as you please. One useful application of this
 feature is to replace the default `mkDerivation` function with one that enables
 library profiling for all packages. To accomplish that, add configure the
-following snippet in your `~/.nixpkgs/config.nix` file:
+following snippet in your `~/.config/nixpkgs/config.nix` file:
 
     {
       packageOverrides = super: let self = super.pkgs; in
@@ -583,7 +583,7 @@ The first step is to generate Nix build instructions with `cabal2nix`:
 
     $ cabal2nix cabal://ghc-events-0.4.3.0 >~/.nixpkgs/ghc-events-0.4.3.0.nix
 
-Then add the override in `~/.nixpkgs/config.nix`:
+Then add the override in `~/.config/nixpkgs/config.nix`:
 
     {
       packageOverrides = super: let self = super.pkgs; in
diff --git a/doc/package-notes.xml b/doc/package-notes.xml
index 0ba7ec4c44d4..0f148f5c898a 100644
--- a/doc/package-notes.xml
+++ b/doc/package-notes.xml
@@ -278,7 +278,7 @@ packageOverrides = pkgs: {
 </screen>
 
     to your Nixpkgs configuration
-    (<filename>~/.nixpkgs/config.nix</filename>) and install it by
+    (<filename>~/.config/nixpkgs/config.nix</filename>) and install it by
     running <command>nix-env -f '&lt;nixpkgs&gt;' -iA
     myEclipse</command> and afterward run Eclipse as usual. It is
     possible to find out which plugins are available for installation
diff --git a/lib/customisation.nix b/lib/customisation.nix
index 3e6e279824be..41fe07fbd0a7 100644
--- a/lib/customisation.nix
+++ b/lib/customisation.nix
@@ -15,10 +15,10 @@ rec {
      the original derivation attributes.
 
      `overrideDerivation' allows certain "ad-hoc" customisation
-     scenarios (e.g. in ~/.nixpkgs/config.nix).  For instance, if you
-     want to "patch" the derivation returned by a package function in
-     Nixpkgs to build another version than what the function itself
-     provides, you can do something like this:
+     scenarios (e.g. in ~/.config/nixpkgs/config.nix).  For instance,
+     if you want to "patch" the derivation returned by a package
+     function in Nixpkgs to build another version than what the
+     function itself provides, you can do something like this:
 
        mySed = overrideDerivation pkgs.gnused (oldAttrs: {
          name = "sed-4.2.2-pre";
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/editors/emacs.xml b/nixos/modules/services/editors/emacs.xml
index e03f6046de8e..89f09ed08449 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/editors/emacs.xml
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/editors/emacs.xml
@@ -316,10 +316,10 @@ https://nixos.org/nixpkgs/manual/#sec-modify-via-packageOverrides
       <para>
         If you are not on NixOS or want to install this particular
         Emacs only for yourself, you can do so by adding it to your
-        <filename>~/.nixpkgs/config.nix</filename>
+        <filename>~/.config/nixpkgs/config.nix</filename>
         (see <link xlink:href="http://nixos.org/nixpkgs/manual/#sec-modify-via-packageOverrides">Nixpkgs manual</link>):
         <example>
-          <title>Custom Emacs in <filename>~/.nixpkgs/system.nix</filename></title>
+          <title>Custom Emacs in <filename>~/.config/nixpkgs/config.nix</filename></title>
           <programlisting><![CDATA[
 {
   packageOverrides = super: let self = super.pkgs; in {
diff --git a/pkgs/development/r-modules/README.md b/pkgs/development/r-modules/README.md
index 9a7ccc55ac91..cb962e138c50 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/r-modules/README.md
+++ b/pkgs/development/r-modules/README.md
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ R packages
 ## Installation
 
 Define an environment for R that contains all the libraries that you'd like to
-use by adding the following snippet to your $HOME/.nixpkgs/config.nix file:
+use by adding the following snippet to your $HOME/.config/nixpkgs/config.nix file:
 
 ```nix
 {
diff --git a/pkgs/games/planetaryannihilation/default.nix b/pkgs/games/planetaryannihilation/default.nix
index bd7e11889280..451d4b71296a 100644
--- a/pkgs/games/planetaryannihilation/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/games/planetaryannihilation/default.nix
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ assert ((config.planetary_annihilation or null).url or null) != null;
 assert ((config.planetary_annihilation or null).sha256 or null) != null;
 
 /* to setup:
- $ cat ~/.nixpkgs/config.nix
+ $ cat ~/.config/nixpkgs/config.nix
  {
   planetary_annihilation = {
     url = "file:///home/user/PA_Linux_62857.tar.bz2";
diff --git a/pkgs/stdenv/adapters.nix b/pkgs/stdenv/adapters.nix
index 90a55188f09e..3ffe1ab15d9b 100644
--- a/pkgs/stdenv/adapters.nix
+++ b/pkgs/stdenv/adapters.nix
@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ rec {
 
      This adapter can be defined on the defaultStdenv definition.  You can
      use it by patching the all-packages.nix file or by using the override
-     feature of ~/.nixpkgs/config.nix .
+     feature of ~/.config/nixpkgs/config.nix .
   */
   validateLicenses = licensePred: stdenv: stdenv //
     { mkDerivation = args:
diff --git a/pkgs/stdenv/generic/default.nix b/pkgs/stdenv/generic/default.nix
index c61d0e2d6410..34ba2fd8dd9c 100644
--- a/pkgs/stdenv/generic/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/stdenv/generic/default.nix
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ let
 
           b) For `nix-env`, `nix-build`, `nix-shell` or any other Nix command you can add
             { allow${up reason} = true; }
-          to ~/.nixpkgs/config.nix.
+          to ~/.config/nixpkgs/config.nix.
         ''));
 
       # Check if a derivation is valid, that is whether it passes checks for
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/impure.nix b/pkgs/top-level/impure.nix
index d1a28b9b15e4..63112034d292 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/impure.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/impure.nix
@@ -17,13 +17,15 @@ in
   system ? builtins.currentSystem
 
 , # Fallback: The contents of the configuration file found at $NIXPKGS_CONFIG or
-  # $HOME/.nixpkgs/config.nix.
+  # $HOME/.config/nixpkgs/config.nix.
   config ? let
       configFile = getEnv "NIXPKGS_CONFIG";
-      configFile2 = homeDir + "/.nixpkgs/config.nix";
+      configFile2 = homeDir + "/.config/nixpkgs/config.nix";
+      configFile3 = homeDir + "/.nixpkgs/config.nix"; # obsolete
     in
       if configFile != "" && pathExists configFile then import configFile
       else if homeDir != "" && pathExists configFile2 then import configFile2
+      else if homeDir != "" && pathExists configFile3 then import configFile3
       else {}
 
 , # Overlays are used to extend Nixpkgs collection with additional
@@ -31,7 +33,7 @@ in
   # fix-point made by Nixpkgs.
   overlays ? let
       dirPath = try (if pathExists <nixpkgs-overlays> then <nixpkgs-overlays> else "") "";
-      dirHome = homeDir + "/.nixpkgs/overlays";
+      dirHome = homeDir + "/.config/nixpkgs/overlays";
       dirCheck = dir: dir != "" && pathExists (dir + "/.");
       overlays = dir:
         let content = readDir dir; in