diff --git a/src/default.nix b/src/default.nix
index 8d971425..c5696318 100644
--- a/src/default.nix
+++ b/src/default.nix
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ in let
     if b.pathExists (./. + "/external")
     then ./.
     else
-      pkgs.runCommand "dream2nix-full-src" {} ''
+      pkgs.runCommandLocal "dream2nix-full-src" {} ''
         cp -r ${./.} $out
         chmod +w $out
         mkdir $out/external
diff --git a/src/fetchers/crates-io/default.nix b/src/fetchers/crates-io/default.nix
index 48467eb2..4f2e5a7e 100644
--- a/src/fetchers/crates-io/default.nix
+++ b/src/fetchers/crates-io/default.nix
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 
   outputs = {
     fetchurl,
-    runCommand,
+    runCommandLocal,
     utils,
     ...
   }: {
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
         name = "download-${pname}-${version}";
       };
     in
-      runCommand "unpack-${pname}-${version}" {}
+      runCommandLocal "unpack-${pname}-${version}" {}
       ''
         mkdir -p $out
         tar --strip-components 1 -xzf ${fetched} -C $out
diff --git a/src/subsystems/haskell/builders/default/default.nix b/src/subsystems/haskell/builders/default/default.nix
index 2c7269a2..ef09ed63 100644
--- a/src/subsystems/haskell/builders/default/default.nix
+++ b/src/subsystems/haskell/builders/default/default.nix
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ in {
   } @ args: let
     b = builtins;
 
-    all-cabal-hashes = pkgs.runCommand "all-cabal-hashes" {} ''
+    all-cabal-hashes = pkgs.runCommandLocal "all-cabal-hashes" {} ''
       mkdir $out
       cd $out
       tar --strip-components 1 -xf ${pkgs.all-cabal-hashes}
diff --git a/src/subsystems/haskell/translators/stack-lock/default.nix b/src/subsystems/haskell/translators/stack-lock/default.nix
index 0a6a1d87..e94eb9ac 100644
--- a/src/subsystems/haskell/translators/stack-lock/default.nix
+++ b/src/subsystems/haskell/translators/stack-lock/default.nix
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ in {
   }: let
     haskellUtils = import ./utils.nix {inherit dlib lib pkgs;};
     all-cabal-hashes = let
-      all-cabal-hashes' = pkgs.runCommand "all-cabal-hashes" {} ''
+      all-cabal-hashes' = pkgs.runCommandLocal "all-cabal-hashes" {} ''
         mkdir $out
         cd $out
         tar --strip-components 1 -xf ${pkgs.all-cabal-hashes}
diff --git a/src/subsystems/haskell/translators/stack-lock/utils.nix b/src/subsystems/haskell/translators/stack-lock/utils.nix
index bb9a98d4..2a0d7f2f 100644
--- a/src/subsystems/haskell/translators/stack-lock/utils.nix
+++ b/src/subsystems/haskell/translators/stack-lock/utils.nix
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
     sha256 = "1qc703yg0babixi6wshn5wm2kgl5y1drcswgszh4xxzbrwkk9sv7";
   });
 in rec {
-  all-cabal-hashes = pkgs.runCommand "all-cabal-hashes" {} ''
+  all-cabal-hashes = pkgs.runCommandLocal "all-cabal-hashes" {} ''
     mkdir $out
     cd $out
     tar --strip-components 1 -xf ${pkgs.all-cabal-hashes}
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ in rec {
   # parse cabal file via IFD
   fromCabal = file: name: let
     file' = l.path {path = file;};
-    jsonFile = pkgs.runCommand "${name}.cabal.json" {} ''
+    jsonFile = pkgs.runCommandLocal "${name}.cabal.json" {} ''
       ${cabal2json}/bin/cabal2json ${file'} > $out
     '';
   in
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ in rec {
   # fromYaml IFD implementation
   fromYaml = file: let
     file' = l.path {path = file;};
-    jsonFile = pkgs.runCommand "yaml.json" {} ''
+    jsonFile = pkgs.runCommandLocal "yaml.json" {} ''
       ${pkgs.yaml2json}/bin/yaml2json < ${file'} > $out
     '';
   in
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ in rec {
       fi
     '';
   in
-    pkgs.runCommand "cabal-json-files" {}
+    pkgs.runCommandLocal "cabal-json-files" {}
     (l.concatStringsSep "\n"
       (l.map (c: convertOne c.name c.version) candidates));
 
diff --git a/src/subsystems/nodejs/builders/granular/default.nix b/src/subsystems/nodejs/builders/granular/default.nix
index de4a4b21..00bb1ec3 100644
--- a/src/subsystems/nodejs/builders/granular/default.nix
+++ b/src/subsystems/nodejs/builders/granular/default.nix
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
     mkShell,
     pkgs,
     python3,
-    runCommand,
+    runCommandLocal,
     stdenv,
     writeText,
     ...
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@
         pkgs."nodejs-${builtins.toString nodejsVersion}_x"
         or (throw "Could not find nodejs version '${nodejsVersion}' in pkgs");
 
-    nodeSources = runCommand "node-sources" {} ''
+    nodeSources = runCommandLocal "node-sources" {} ''
       tar --no-same-owner --no-same-permissions -xf ${nodejs.src}
       mv node-* $out
     '';
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@
       # Derivation building the ./node_modules directory in isolation.
       # This is used for the devShell of the current package.
       # We do not want to build the full package for the devShell.
-      nodeModulesDir = pkgs.runCommand "node_modules-${pname}" {} ''
+      nodeModulesDir = pkgs.runCommandLocal "node_modules-${pname}" {} ''
         # symlink direct dependencies to ./node_modules
         mkdir $out
         ${l.concatStringsSep "\n" (
diff --git a/src/subsystems/rust/builders/vendor.nix b/src/subsystems/rust/builders/vendor.nix
index de7b7d1a..b96b2eb3 100644
--- a/src/subsystems/rust/builders/vendor.nix
+++ b/src/subsystems/rust/builders/vendor.nix
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ in rec {
         ${l.optionalString isGit "printf '{\"files\":{},\"package\":null}' > \"$out/${source.name}/.cargo-checksum.json\""}
       '';
   in
-    pkgs.runCommand "vendor" {} ''
+    pkgs.runCommandLocal "vendor" {} ''
       mkdir -p $out
 
       ${
diff --git a/src/utils/default.nix b/src/utils/default.nix
index 0c06cb08..ac000a64 100644
--- a/src/utils/default.nix
+++ b/src/utils/default.nix
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
   nix,
   pkgs,
   python3,
-  runCommand,
+  runCommandLocal,
   stdenv,
   writeScript,
   writeScriptBin,
@@ -72,13 +72,13 @@ in
 
     inherit (dreamLockUtils) readDreamLock;
 
-    toDrv = path: runCommand "some-drv" {} "cp -r ${path} $out";
+    toDrv = path: runCommandLocal "some-drv" {} "cp -r ${path} $out";
 
     toTOML = import ./toTOML.nix {inherit lib;};
 
     # hash the contents of a path via `nix hash path`
     hashPath = algo: path: let
-      hashPath = runCommand "hash-${algo}" {} ''
+      hashPath = runCommandLocal "hash-${algo}" {} ''
         ${nix}/bin/nix --option experimental-features nix-command hash path ${path} | tr --delete '\n' > $out
       '';
     in
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ in
 
     # hash a file via `nix hash file`
     hashFile = algo: path: let
-      hashFile = runCommand "hash-${algo}" {} ''
+      hashFile = runCommandLocal "hash-${algo}" {} ''
         ${nix}/bin/nix --option experimental-features nix-command hash file ${path} | tr --delete '\n' > $out
       '';
     in
@@ -130,6 +130,7 @@ in
         ${coreutils}/bin/rm -rf $TMPDIR
       '';
 
+    # TODO is this really needed? Seems to make builds slower, why not unpack + build?
     extractSource = {
       source,
       dir ? "",
diff --git a/src/utils/external-dir.nix b/src/utils/external-dir.nix
index 24f9dc9f..6503e57b 100644
--- a/src/utils/external-dir.nix
+++ b/src/utils/external-dir.nix
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
   externalSources,
   externalPaths,
 }:
-pkgs.runCommand "dream2nix-external-dir" {}
+pkgs.runCommandLocal "dream2nix-external-dir" {}
 (lib.concatStringsSep "\n"
   (lib.mapAttrsToList
     (inputName: paths: