diff --git a/doc/languages-frameworks/lua.section.md b/doc/languages-frameworks/lua.section.md
index a6577a56a436c..87cd0c4c90d7b 100644
--- a/doc/languages-frameworks/lua.section.md
+++ b/doc/languages-frameworks/lua.section.md
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@ The main package set contains aliases to these package sets, e.g.
 `luaPackages` refers to `lua5_1.pkgs` and `lua52Packages` to
 `lua5_2.pkgs`.
 
+Note that nixpkgs patches the non-luajit interpreters to avoid referring to
+`/usr` and have `;;` (a [placeholder](https://www.lua.org/manual/5.1/manual.html#pdf-package.path) replaced with the default LUA_PATH) work correctly.
+
 ### Installing Lua and packages {#installing-lua-and-packages}
 
 #### Lua environment defined in separate `.nix` file {#lua-environment-defined-in-separate-.nix-file}
diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2405.section.md b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2405.section.md
index b4eea551d2703..6c72ef30b87e7 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2405.section.md
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2405.section.md
@@ -58,6 +58,9 @@ In addition to numerous new and upgraded packages, this release has the followin
   }
   ```
 
+- lua interpreters default LUA_PATH and LUA_CPATH are not overriden by nixpkgs
+  anymore, we patch LUA_ROOT instead which is more respectful to upstream.
+
 - Plasma 6 is now available and can be installed with `services.xserver.desktopManager.plasma6.enable = true;`. Plasma 5 will likely be deprecated in the next release (24.11). Note that Plasma 6 runs as Wayland by default, and the X11 session needs to be explicitly selected if necessary.
 
 ## New Services {#sec-release-24.05-new-services}
diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-5/hooks/default.nix b/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-5/hooks/default.nix
index 6c303f770decc..ca9c15e8a3b1e 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-5/hooks/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-5/hooks/default.nix
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@
 
 let
   callPackage = lua.pkgs.callPackage;
-  luaInterpreter = lua.interpreter;
 in {
 
   lua-setup-hook = LuaPathSearchPaths: LuaCPathSearchPaths:
diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-5/hooks/setup-hook.sh b/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-5/hooks/setup-hook.sh
index 7b2d2a4d83d86..3041b7f1c3f71 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-5/hooks/setup-hook.sh
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-5/hooks/setup-hook.sh
@@ -13,11 +13,6 @@ nix_debug() {
 addToLuaSearchPathWithCustomDelimiter() {
   local varName="$1"
   local absPattern="$2"
-  # delete longest match starting from the lua placeholder '?'
-  local topDir="${absPattern%%\?*}"
-
-  # export only if the folder exists else LUA_PATH/LUA_CPATH grow too large
-  if [[ ! -d "$topDir" ]]; then return; fi
 
   # export only if we haven't already got this dir in the search path
   if [[ ${!varName-} == *"$absPattern"* ]]; then return; fi
@@ -27,7 +22,15 @@ addToLuaSearchPathWithCustomDelimiter() {
   # allowing relative modules to be used even when there are system modules.
   if [[ ! -v "${varName}" ]]; then export "${varName}=;;"; fi
 
-  export "${varName}=${!varName:+${!varName};}${absPattern}"
+  # export only if the folder contains lua files
+  shopt -s globstar
+
+  for _file in ${absPattern/\?/\*\*}; do
+    export "${varName}=${!varName:+${!varName};}${absPattern}"
+    shopt -u globstar
+    return;
+  done
+  shopt -u globstar
 }
 
 addToLuaPath() {
diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-5/interpreter.nix b/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-5/interpreter.nix
index 4091fdd49e0e4..2856951d9fbdf 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-5/interpreter.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-5/interpreter.nix
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs:
   let
     luaPackages = self.pkgs;
 
-    luaversion = lib.versions.majorMinor version;
+    luaversion = lib.versions.majorMinor finalAttrs.version;
 
     plat = if (stdenv.isLinux && lib.versionOlder self.luaversion "5.4") then "linux"
           else if (stdenv.isLinux && lib.versionAtLeast self.luaversion "5.4") then "linux-readline"
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs:
   outputs = [ "out" "doc" ];
 
   src = fetchurl {
-    url = "https://www.lua.org/ftp/${finalAttrs.pname}-${finalAttrs.version}.tar.gz";
+    url = "https://www.lua.org/ftp/lua-${finalAttrs.version}.tar.gz";
     sha256 = hash;
   };
 
@@ -60,16 +60,11 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs:
 
   inherit patches;
 
-  # we can't pass flags to the lua makefile because for portability, everything is hardcoded
   postPatch = ''
-    {
-      echo -e '
-        #undef  LUA_PATH_DEFAULT
-        #define LUA_PATH_DEFAULT "./share/lua/${luaversion}/?.lua;./?.lua;./?/init.lua"
-        #undef  LUA_CPATH_DEFAULT
-        #define LUA_CPATH_DEFAULT "./lib/lua/${luaversion}/?.so;./?.so;./lib/lua/${luaversion}/loadall.so"
-      '
-    } >> src/luaconf.h
+      sed -i "s@#define LUA_ROOT[[:space:]]*\"/usr/local/\"@#define LUA_ROOT  \"$out/\"@g" src/luaconf.h
+
+      # abort if patching didn't work
+      grep $out src/luaconf.h
   '' + lib.optionalString (!stdenv.isDarwin && !staticOnly) ''
     # Add a target for a shared library to the Makefile.
     sed -e '1s/^/LUA_SO = liblua.so/' \
@@ -102,8 +97,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs:
     makeFlagsArray+=(${lib.optionalString stdenv.isDarwin "CC=\"$CC\""}${lib.optionalString (stdenv.buildPlatform != stdenv.hostPlatform) " 'AR=${stdenv.cc.targetPrefix}ar rcu'"})
 
     installFlagsArray=( TO_BIN="lua luac" INSTALL_DATA='cp -d' \
-      TO_LIB="${if stdenv.isDarwin then "liblua.${version}.dylib"
-                else ("liblua.a" + lib.optionalString (!staticOnly) " liblua.so liblua.so.${luaversion} liblua.so.${version}" )}" )
+      TO_LIB="${if stdenv.isDarwin then "liblua.${finalAttrs.version}.dylib"
+                else ("liblua.a" + lib.optionalString (!staticOnly) " liblua.so liblua.so.${luaversion} liblua.so.${finalAttrs.version}" )}" )
 
     runHook postConfigure
   '';
@@ -128,7 +123,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs:
 
     Name: Lua
     Description: An Extensible Extension Language
-    Version: ${version}
+    Version: ${finalAttrs.version}
     Requires:
     Libs: -L$out/lib -llua
     Cflags: -I$out/include
@@ -138,7 +133,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs:
     ln -s "$out/lib/pkgconfig/lua.pc" "$out/lib/pkgconfig/lua${lib.replaceStrings [ "." ] [ "" ] luaversion}.pc"
 
     # Make documentation outputs of different versions co-installable.
-    mv $out/share/doc/lua $out/share/doc/lua-${version}
+    mv $out/share/doc/lua $out/share/doc/lua-${finalAttrs.version}
   '';
 
   # copied from python
diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-5/tests/assert.sh b/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-5/tests/assert.sh
index c5783a24b2d7b..b0aa3825ef93a 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-5/tests/assert.sh
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-5/tests/assert.sh
@@ -3,14 +3,14 @@
 # Example:
 #     fail "It should have been but it wasn't to be"
 function fail() {
-    echo "$1"
+    echo -e "$1"
     exit 1
 }
 
 
 function assertStringEqual() {
     if ! diff <(echo "$1") <(echo "$2") ; then
-        fail "expected \"$1\" to be equal to \"$2\""
+        fail "Actual   value: \"$1\"\nExpected value: \"$2\""
     fi
 }
 
diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-5/tests/default.nix b/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-5/tests/default.nix
index 7351fb7cd6f4d..6ca6b153c0b62 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-5/tests/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-5/tests/default.nix
@@ -1,12 +1,10 @@
 { lua
 , hello
 , wrapLua
-, lib, fetchFromGitHub
-, fetchFromGitLab
+, lib
 , pkgs
 }:
 let
-
   runTest = lua: { name, command }:
     pkgs.runCommandLocal "test-${lua.name}-${name}" ({
       nativeBuildInputs = [lua];
@@ -18,29 +16,47 @@ let
     + "touch $out"
     );
 
-    wrappedHello = hello.overrideAttrs(oa: {
-      propagatedBuildInputs = [
-        wrapLua
-        lua.pkgs.cjson
-      ];
-      postFixup = ''
-        wrapLuaPrograms
-      '';
-    });
+  wrappedHello = hello.overrideAttrs(oa: {
+    propagatedBuildInputs = [
+      wrapLua
+      lua.pkgs.cjson
+    ];
+    postFixup = ''
+      wrapLuaPrograms
+    '';
+  });
+
+  luaWithModule = lua.withPackages(ps: [
+    ps.lua-cjson
+  ]);
+
+  golden_LUA_PATHS = {
 
-    luaWithModule = lua.withPackages(ps: [
-      ps.lua-cjson
-    ]);
+    # Looking at lua interpreter 'setpath' code
+    # for instance https://github.com/lua/lua/blob/69ea087dff1daba25a2000dfb8f1883c17545b7a/loadlib.c#L599
+    # replace ";;" by ";LUA_PATH_DEFAULT;"
+    "5.1" = ";./?.lua;${lua}/share/lua/5.1/?.lua;${lua}/share/lua/5.1/?/init.lua;${lua}/lib/lua/5.1/?.lua;${lua}/lib/lua/5.1/?/init.lua;";
+    "5.2" = ";${lua}/share/lua/5.2/?.lua;${lua}/share/lua/5.2/?/init.lua;${lua}/lib/lua/5.2/?.lua;${lua}/lib/lua/5.2/?/init.lua;./?.lua;";
+    "5.3" = ";${lua}/share/lua/5.3/?.lua;${lua}/share/lua/5.3/?/init.lua;${lua}/lib/lua/5.3/?.lua;${lua}/lib/lua/5.3/?/init.lua;./?.lua;./?/init.lua;";
+    # lua5.4 seems to be smarter about it and dont add the lua separators when nothing left or right
+    "5.4" = "${lua}/share/lua/5.4/?.lua;${lua}/share/lua/5.4/?/init.lua;${lua}/lib/lua/5.4/?.lua;${lua}/lib/lua/5.4/?/init.lua;./?.lua;./?/init.lua";
+
+    # luajit versions
+    "2.0" = ";./?.lua;${lua}/share/luajit-2.0/?.lua;/usr/local/share/lua/5.1/?.lua;/usr/local/share/lua/5.1/?/init.lua;${lua}/share/lua/5.1/?.lua;${lua}/share/lua/5.1/?/init.lua;";
+    "2.1" = ";./?.lua;${lua}/share/luajit-2.1/?.lua;/usr/local/share/lua/5.1/?.lua;/usr/local/share/lua/5.1/?/init.lua;${lua}/share/lua/5.1/?.lua;${lua}/share/lua/5.1/?/init.lua;";
+  };
 in
   pkgs.recurseIntoAttrs ({
 
-  checkAliases = runTest lua {
-    name = "check-aliases";
+  checkInterpreterPatch = let
+    golden_LUA_PATH = golden_LUA_PATHS.${lib.versions.majorMinor lua.version};
+  in
+    runTest lua {
+    name = "check-default-lua-path";
     command = ''
+      export LUA_PATH=";;"
       generated=$(lua -e 'print(package.path)')
-      golden_LUA_PATH='./share/lua/${lua.luaversion}/?.lua;./?.lua;./?/init.lua'
-
-      assertStringContains "$generated" "$golden_LUA_PATH"
+      assertStringEqual "$generated" "${golden_LUA_PATH}"
       '';
   };
 
diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/luajit/default.nix b/pkgs/development/interpreters/luajit/default.nix
index 211fa56e91197..15bcfee3a44cc 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/interpreters/luajit/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/luajit/default.nix
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ let
     else buildPackages.stdenv;
 
 in
-stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
+stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
   pname = "luajit";
   inherit version src;
 
@@ -75,15 +75,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
       # passed by nixpkgs CC wrapper is insufficient on its own
       substituteInPlace src/Makefile --replace "#CCDEBUG= -g" "CCDEBUG= -g"
     fi
-
-    {
-      echo -e '
-        #undef  LUA_PATH_DEFAULT
-        #define LUA_PATH_DEFAULT "./share/lua/${luaversion}/?.lua;./?.lua;./?/init.lua"
-        #undef  LUA_CPATH_DEFAULT
-        #define LUA_CPATH_DEFAULT "./lib/lua/${luaversion}/?.so;./?.so;./lib/lua/${luaversion}/loadall.so"
-      '
-    } >> src/luaconf.h
   '';
 
   dontConfigure = true;
@@ -122,7 +113,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     inputs' = lib.filterAttrs (n: v: ! lib.isDerivation v && n != "passthruFun") inputs;
     override = attr: let lua = attr.override (inputs' // { self = lua; }); in lua;
   in passthruFun rec {
-    inherit self luaversion packageOverrides luaAttr;
+    inherit self packageOverrides luaAttr;
+    inherit (finalAttrs) luaversion;
     executable = "lua";
     luaOnBuildForBuild = override pkgsBuildBuild.${luaAttr};
     luaOnBuildForHost = override pkgsBuildHost.${luaAttr};
@@ -142,4 +134,4 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     ];
     maintainers = with maintainers; [ thoughtpolice smironov vcunat lblasc ];
   } // extraMeta;
-}
+})