diff --git a/lib/customisation.nix b/lib/customisation.nix
index 3e6e279824be4..d24d23b3a5575 100644
--- a/lib/customisation.nix
+++ b/lib/customisation.nix
@@ -185,4 +185,33 @@ rec {
         };
     in self;
 
+  # Use this if you want to override the native derivation of a
+  # package without affecting the cross-compiled derivation.
+  overrideNativeDrv = newNativeDrv: old:
+    if old ? crossDrv
+    then
+      let
+        nativeDrv = newNativeDrv;
+        crossDrv = old.crossDrv;
+        override = newArgs: overrideNativeDrv
+          (newNativeDrv.override newArgs) (old.override newArgs);
+      in nativeDrv // { inherit crossDrv nativeDrv override; }
+    else
+      newNativeDrv;
+
+  # Given a set of new packages and a set of old packages, produces a
+  # set with the same attribute names as the set of new packages, where
+  # each attribute value is a derivation that has the native derivation
+  # from the new set but the cross derivation (crossDrv) from the old
+  # set.
+  overrideNativeDrvs = newPkgs: oldPkgs:
+    let
+      overrider = attr: {
+        name = attr;
+        value = if oldPkgs ? "${attr}" then
+                (overrideNativeDrv newPkgs.${attr} oldPkgs.${attr})
+                else (throw "wtf ${attr}");
+      };
+      names = builtins.attrNames newPkgs;
+    in builtins.listToAttrs (map overrider names);
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/development/compilers/gcc/5/default.nix b/pkgs/development/compilers/gcc/5/default.nix
index 3d75c0e76daaf..3065f108ebedb 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/compilers/gcc/5/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/compilers/gcc/5/default.nix
@@ -62,6 +62,10 @@ with builtins;
 let version = "5.4.0";
     sha256 = "0fihlcy5hnksdxk0sn6bvgnyq8gfrgs8m794b1jxwd1dxinzg3b0";
 
+    # Rename the libcCross argument so we can redefine libcCross to
+    # null for the native compiler.
+    libcCrossArg = libcCross;
+
     # Whether building a cross-compiler for GNU/Hurd.
     crossGNU = cross != null && cross.config == "i586-pc-gnu";
 
@@ -210,7 +214,12 @@ in
 # We need all these X libraries when building AWT with GTK+.
 assert x11Support -> (filter (x: x == null) ([ gtk2 libart_lgpl ] ++ xlibs)) == [];
 
-stdenv.mkDerivation ({
+stdenv.mkDerivationWithCrossArg ( hostCrossSystem:
+  let
+    targetCrossSystem = if cross != null then cross else hostCrossSystem;
+    libcCross = if targetCrossSystem != null then libcCrossArg else null;
+  in {
+
   name = "${name}${if stripped then "" else "-debug"}-${version}" + crossNameAddon;
 
   builder = ../builder.sh;
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/boehm-gc/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/boehm-gc/default.nix
index fb1f177d96950..b957e1593c9e6 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/boehm-gc/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/boehm-gc/default.nix
@@ -17,8 +17,11 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   doCheck = true;
 
-  # Don't run the native `strip' when cross-compiling.
-  dontStrip = stdenv ? cross;
+  # This is just here because it was present in previous commits and
+  # we want to avoid a meaningless mass rebuild.
+  dontStrip = false;
+
+  crossAttrs.dontStrip = true; # Don't run the native `strip' when cross-compiling.
 
   postInstall =
     ''
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/libffi/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/libffi/default.nix
index b203f6346476b..3ff3cb62a06dc 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/libffi/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/libffi/default.nix
@@ -21,7 +21,11 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   inherit doCheck;
 
-  dontStrip = stdenv ? cross; # Don't run the native `strip' when cross-compiling.
+  # This is just here because it was present in previous commits and
+  # we want to avoid a meaningless mass rebuild.
+  dontStrip = false;
+
+  crossAttrs.dontStrip = true; # Don't run the native `strip' when cross-compiling.
 
   # Install headers and libs in the right places.
   postFixup = ''
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/libxml2/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/libxml2/default.nix
index 80354b10f3b99..a8c6a5e86118a 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/libxml2/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/libxml2/default.nix
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
 { stdenv, lib, fetchurl, zlib, xz, python2, findXMLCatalogs, libiconv, fetchpatch
-, pythonSupport ? (! stdenv ? cross) }:
-
-let
-  python = python2;
-in stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
+, pythonSupport ? null }:
+
+stdenv.mkDerivationWithCrossArg(cross:
+  let
+    pythonSupportReally = if pythonSupport != null then pythonSupport
+                          else cross == null;
+    python = assert pythonSupportReally; python2;
+  in rec {
   name = "libxml2-${version}";
   version = "2.9.4";
 
@@ -28,10 +31,10 @@ in stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   };
 
   outputs = [ "bin" "dev" "out" "doc" ]
-    ++ lib.optional pythonSupport "py";
-  propagatedBuildOutputs = "out bin" + lib.optionalString pythonSupport " py";
+    ++ lib.optional pythonSupportReally "py";
+  propagatedBuildOutputs = "out bin" + lib.optionalString pythonSupportReally " py";
 
-  buildInputs = lib.optional pythonSupport python
+  buildInputs = lib.optional pythonSupportReally python
     # Libxml2 has an optional dependency on liblzma.  However, on impure
     # platforms, it may end up using that from /usr/lib, and thus lack a
     # RUNPATH for that, leading to undefined references for its users.
@@ -39,7 +42,7 @@ in stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   propagatedBuildInputs = [ zlib findXMLCatalogs ];
 
-  configureFlags = lib.optional pythonSupport "--with-python=${python}"
+  configureFlags = lib.optional pythonSupportReally "--with-python=${python}"
     ++ [ "--exec_prefix=$dev" ];
 
   enableParallelBuilding = true;
@@ -55,9 +58,9 @@ in stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     propagatedBuildInputs =  [ findXMLCatalogs libiconv ];
   };
 
-  preInstall = lib.optionalString pythonSupport
+  preInstall = lib.optionalString pythonSupportReally
     ''substituteInPlace python/libxml2mod.la --replace "${python}" "$py"'';
-  installFlags = lib.optionalString pythonSupport
+  installFlags = lib.optionalString pythonSupportReally
     ''pythondir="$(py)/lib/${python.libPrefix}/site-packages"'';
 
   postFixup = ''
@@ -75,4 +78,4 @@ in stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     platforms = lib.platforms.unix;
     maintainers = [ lib.maintainers.eelco ];
   };
-}
+})
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/readline/6.3.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/readline/6.3.nix
index 80cc7e923b834..dfb8385f75728 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/readline/6.3.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/readline/6.3.nix
@@ -28,8 +28,12 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
      in
        import ./readline-6.3-patches.nix patch);
 
-  # Don't run the native `strip' when cross-compiling.
-  dontStrip = stdenv ? cross;
+  # This is just here because it was present in previous commits and
+  # we want to avoid a meaningless mass rebuild.
+  dontStrip = false;
+
+  crossAttrs.dontStrip = true; # Don't run the native `strip' when cross-compiling.
+
   bash_cv_func_sigsetjmp = if stdenv.isCygwin then "missing" else null;
 
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/misc/libtool/libtool2.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/misc/libtool/libtool2.nix
index a81255212da5b..281058bb42eff 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/misc/libtool/libtool2.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/misc/libtool/libtool2.nix
@@ -21,9 +21,13 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   # leads to the failure of a number of tests.
   doCheck = false;
 
+  # This is just here because it was present in previous commits and
+  # we want to avoid a meaningless mass-rebuild.
+  dontStrip = false;
+
   # Don't run the native `strip' when cross-compiling.  This breaks at least
   # with `.a' files for MinGW.
-  dontStrip = stdenv ? cross;
+  crossAttrs.dontStrip = true;
 
   meta = {
     description = "GNU Libtool, a generic library support script";
diff --git a/pkgs/stdenv/adapters.nix b/pkgs/stdenv/adapters.nix
index 11f9a43c035e7..aab8c836e879e 100644
--- a/pkgs/stdenv/adapters.nix
+++ b/pkgs/stdenv/adapters.nix
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ rec {
   # Return a modified stdenv that adds a cross compiler to the
   # builds.
   makeStdenvCross = stdenv: cross: binutilsCross: gccCross: stdenv //
-    { mkDerivation = {name ? "", buildInputs ? [], nativeBuildInputs ? [],
+    rec { mkDerivation = {name ? "", buildInputs ? [], nativeBuildInputs ? [],
             propagatedBuildInputs ? [], propagatedNativeBuildInputs ? [],
             selfNativeBuildInput ? false, ...}@args: let
 
@@ -115,6 +115,21 @@ rec {
         in nativeDrv // {
           inherit crossDrv nativeDrv;
         };
+
+        # mkDerivationWithCrossArg allows us to make arbitary changes to
+        # derivation depending on what system we are cross-compiling for, without
+        # affecting the native derivation.  The argument to
+        # mkDerivationWithCrossArg, attrFunc, should be a function that takes a
+        # single argument named cross.  When cross is null, attrFunc should return
+        # the attributes for making a native version of the derivation (one that
+        # runs on the system on which it was built).  When cross is not null, it
+        # will be equal to the top-level crossSystem argument (and equal to
+        # stdenv.cross), and attrFunc should return the attributes for
+        # cross-compiling a derivation to be run on the specified system.
+        mkDerivationWithCrossArg = attrFunc:
+          let nativeDrv = (mkDerivation (attrFunc null)).nativeDrv;
+              crossDrv = (mkDerivation (attrFunc cross)).crossDrv;
+          in nativeDrv // { inherit crossDrv nativeDrv; };
     } // {
       inherit cross gccCross binutilsCross;
       ccCross = gccCross;
diff --git a/pkgs/stdenv/generic/default.nix b/pkgs/stdenv/generic/default.nix
index bd35970e0d120..2c51f74a96615 100644
--- a/pkgs/stdenv/generic/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/stdenv/generic/default.nix
@@ -264,6 +264,9 @@ let
       # derivation (e.g., in assertions).
       passthru);
 
+  # This gets overridden in makeStdvenvCross to do something more useful.
+  mkDerivationWithCrossArg = attrFunc: mkDerivation (attrFunc null);
+
   # The stdenv that we are producing.
   result =
     derivation (
@@ -343,6 +346,8 @@ let
 
       inherit mkDerivation;
 
+      inherit mkDerivationWithCrossArg;
+
       # For convenience, bring in the library functions in lib/ so
       # packages don't have to do that themselves.
       inherit lib;
diff --git a/pkgs/stdenv/linux/default.nix b/pkgs/stdenv/linux/default.nix
index 9900fc6dd3d58..c65d3aa8b8527 100644
--- a/pkgs/stdenv/linux/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/stdenv/linux/default.nix
@@ -278,12 +278,10 @@ rec {
       ];
       */
 
-    overrides = pkgs: {
-      gcc = cc;
-
+    overrides = lib.overrideNativeDrvs {
       inherit (stage4.pkgs)
         gzip bzip2 xz bash binutils coreutils diffutils findutils gawk
-        glibc gnumake gnused gnutar gnugrep gnupatch patchelf
+        gcc glibc gnumake gnused gnutar gnugrep gnupatch patchelf
         attr acl paxctl zlib pcre;
     };
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/stdenv/linux/make-bootstrap-tools-cross.nix b/pkgs/stdenv/linux/make-bootstrap-tools-cross.nix
index af82788d3fa95..e70f2ba9957af 100644
--- a/pkgs/stdenv/linux/make-bootstrap-tools-cross.nix
+++ b/pkgs/stdenv/linux/make-bootstrap-tools-cross.nix
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ let
   gnumake = pkgs.gnumake.crossDrv;
   patch = pkgs.patch.crossDrv;
   patchelf = pkgs.patchelf.crossDrv;
-  gcc = pkgs.gcc.cc.crossDrv;
+  gcc = pkgs.gcc.crossDrv.cc;
   gmpxx = pkgs.gmpxx.crossDrv;
   mpfr = pkgs.mpfr.crossDrv;
   zlib = pkgs.zlib.crossDrv;
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 6d1dbc3c607c0..738e4b65d1f76 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -4674,18 +4674,18 @@ in
 
   gccApple = throw "gccApple is no longer supported";
 
-  gccCrossStageStatic = let
-    libcCross1 =
-      if stdenv.cross.libc == "msvcrt" then windows.mingw_w64_headers
-      else if stdenv.cross.libc == "libSystem" then darwin.xcode
-      else null;
-    in wrapGCCCross {
-      gcc = forceNativeDrv (gcc.cc.override {
+  gccCrossStageStatic =
+    wrapGCCCross {
+      gcc = forceNativeDrv (callPackage ../development/compilers/gcc/5 {
         cross = crossSystem;
         crossStageStatic = true;
-        langCC = false;
+        noSysDirs = true;
+        isl = isl_0_14;
         libcCross = libcCross1;
         enableShared = false;
+        langCC = false;
+        langObjC = false;
+        langObjCpp = false;
       });
       libc = libcCross1;
       binutils = binutilsCross;
@@ -4701,13 +4701,19 @@ in
   };
 
   gccCrossStageFinal = wrapGCCCross {
-    gcc = forceNativeDrv (gcc.cc.override {
+    gcc = forceNativeDrv (callPackage ../development/compilers/gcc/5 {
       cross = crossSystem;
       crossStageStatic = false;
+      noSysDirs = true;
+      isl = isl_0_14;
+      libcCross = libcCross;
 
       # XXX: We have troubles cross-compiling libstdc++ on MinGW (see
       # <http://hydra.nixos.org/build/4268232>), so don't even try.
       langCC = crossSystem.config != "i686-pc-mingw32";
+
+      langObjC = false;
+      langObjCpp = false;
     });
     libc = libcCross;
     binutils = binutilsCross;
@@ -7184,8 +7190,13 @@ in
     linuxHeaders = linuxHeadersCross;
   });
 
-  # We can choose:
-  libcCrossChooser = name: if name == "glibc" then glibcCross
+  libcCross1 =
+    if stdenv.cross.libc == "msvcrt" then windows.mingw_w64_headers
+    else if stdenv.cross.libc == "libSystem" then darwin.xcode
+    else null;
+
+  libcCrossChooser = name:
+    if name == "glibc" then glibcCross
     else if name == "uclibc" then uclibcCross
     else if name == "msvcrt" then windows.mingw_w64
     else if name == "libSystem" then darwin.xcode
@@ -8081,14 +8092,17 @@ in
 
   # glibc provides libiconv so systems with glibc don't need to build libiconv
   # separately, but we also provide libiconvReal, which will always be a
-  # standalone libiconv, just in case you want it
-  libiconv = if crossSystem != null then
-    (if crossSystem.libc == "glibc" then libcCross
-      else if crossSystem.libc == "libSystem" then darwin.libiconv
-      else libiconvReal)
-    else if stdenv.isGlibc then glibcIconv stdenv.cc.libc
-    else if stdenv.isDarwin then darwin.libiconv
-    else libiconvReal;
+  # standalone libiconv, just in case you want it.
+  libiconv =
+    let
+      nativeDrv = if stdenv.isGlibc then stdenv.cc.libc
+        else if stdenv.isDarwin then darwin.libiconv
+        else libiconvReal;
+      crossDrv =
+        if crossSystem.libc == "glibc" then libcCross
+        else if crossSystem.libc == "libSystem" then darwin.libiconv
+        else libiconvReal.crossDrv;
+    in nativeDrv // { inherit crossDrv nativeDrv; };
 
   glibcIconv = libc: let
     inherit (builtins.parseDrvName libc.name) name version;
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/stage.nix b/pkgs/top-level/stage.nix
index 1d6305151ca63..d00f8f726ef57 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/stage.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/stage.nix
@@ -58,15 +58,11 @@ let
 
   aliases = self: super: import ./aliases.nix super;
 
-  # stdenvOverrides is used to avoid circular dependencies for building
-  # the standard build environment. This mechanism uses the override
-  # mechanism to implement some staged compilation of the stdenv.
-  #
-  # We don't want stdenv overrides in the case of cross-building, or
-  # otherwise the basic overridden packages will not be built with the
-  # crossStdenv adapter.
+  # stdenvOverrides is used to avoid having multiple of versions
+  # of certain dependencies that were used in bootstrapping the
+  # standard environment.
   stdenvOverrides = self: super:
-    lib.optionalAttrs (crossSystem == null && super.stdenv ? overrides)
+    lib.optionalAttrs (super.stdenv ? overrides)
       (super.stdenv.overrides super);
 
   # Allow packages to be overridden globally via the `packageOverrides'