diff --git a/pkgs/development/cuda-modules/packages/cuda_nvcc.nix b/pkgs/development/cuda-modules/packages/cuda_nvcc.nix
index 27eacde61847e..75c81476d109d 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/cuda-modules/packages/cuda_nvcc.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/cuda-modules/packages/cuda_nvcc.nix
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
   cuda_cccl,
   lib,
   libnvvm,
+  makeBinaryWrapper,
 }:
 buildRedist (finalAttrs: {
   redistName = "cuda";
@@ -22,6 +23,10 @@ buildRedist (finalAttrs: {
   # The nvcc and cicc binaries contain hard-coded references to /usr
   allowFHSReferences = true;
 
+  nativeBuildInputs = [
+    makeBinaryWrapper
+  ];
+
   # Entries here will be in nativeBuildInputs when cuda_nvcc is in nativeBuildInputs
   propagatedBuildInputs = [ setupCudaHook ];
 
@@ -144,13 +149,19 @@ buildRedist (finalAttrs: {
         EOF
       ''
       # Add the dependency on backendStdenv.cc to the nvcc.profile.
+      # NOTE: NVCC explodes in horrifying fashion if GCC is not on PATH -- it fails even before
+      # reading nvcc.profile!
       + ''
-        nixLog "adding backendStdenv.cc to nvcc.profile"
+        nixLog "setting compiler-bindir to backendStdenv.cc in nvcc.profile"
         cat << EOF >> "''${!outputBin:?}/bin/nvcc.profile"
-
         # Fix a compatible backend compiler
-        PATH += "${backendStdenv.cc}/bin":
+        compiler-bindir = ${backendStdenv.cc}/bin
         EOF
+
+        nixLog "wrapping nvcc to add backendStdenv.cc to its PATH"
+        wrapProgramBinary \
+          "''${!outputBin:?}/bin/nvcc" \
+          --prefix PATH : ${lib.makeBinPath [ backendStdenv.cc ]}
       ''
     );
 
diff --git a/pkgs/development/cuda-modules/packages/setupCudaHook/package.nix b/pkgs/development/cuda-modules/packages/setupCudaHook/package.nix
index d7560f132c4c5..c15f9a6015aa7 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/cuda-modules/packages/setupCudaHook/package.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/cuda-modules/packages/setupCudaHook/package.nix
@@ -5,9 +5,6 @@ makeSetupHook {
 
   substitutions.setupCudaHook = placeholder "out";
 
-  # Point NVCC at a compatible compiler
-  substitutions.ccRoot = "${backendStdenv.cc}";
-
   # Required in addition to ccRoot as otherwise bin/gcc is looked up
   # when building CMakeCUDACompilerId.cu
   substitutions.ccFullPath = "${backendStdenv.cc}/bin/${backendStdenv.cc.targetPrefix}c++";
diff --git a/pkgs/development/cuda-modules/packages/setupCudaHook/setup-cuda-hook.sh b/pkgs/development/cuda-modules/packages/setupCudaHook/setup-cuda-hook.sh
index 1b0e6bf9c868f..df43187b703d9 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/cuda-modules/packages/setupCudaHook/setup-cuda-hook.sh
+++ b/pkgs/development/cuda-modules/packages/setupCudaHook/setup-cuda-hook.sh
@@ -92,8 +92,6 @@ setupCUDAToolkitCompilers() {
     export CUDAHOSTCXX="@ccFullPath@"
   fi
 
-  appendToVar NVCC_PREPEND_FLAGS "--compiler-bindir=@ccRoot@/bin"
-
   # NOTE: We set -Xfatbin=-compress-all, which reduces the size of the compiled
   #   binaries. If binaries grow over 2GB, they will fail to link. This is a problem for us, as
   #   the default set of CUDA capabilities we build can regularly cause this to occur (for