diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/rust/default.nix b/pkgs/build-support/rust/default.nix
index c23581d9601..e0d45141778 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/rust/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/rust/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ stdenv, cacert, git, rustc, cargo, rustRegistry }:
+{ stdenv, cacert, git, cargo, rustRegistry }:
 { name, depsSha256
 , src ? null
 , srcs ? null
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 
 let
   fetchDeps = import ./fetchcargo.nix {
-    inherit stdenv cacert git rustc cargo rustRegistry;
+    inherit stdenv cacert git cargo rustRegistry;
   };
 
   cargoDeps = fetchDeps {
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ in stdenv.mkDerivation (args // {
 
   patchRegistryDeps = ./patch-registry-deps;
 
-  buildInputs = [ git cargo rustc ] ++ buildInputs;
+  buildInputs = [ git cargo cargo.rustc ] ++ buildInputs;
 
   configurePhase = args.configurePhase or "true";
 
diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/rust/fetchcargo.nix b/pkgs/build-support/rust/fetchcargo.nix
index 0ce1d0a11d3..95eefbedc32 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/rust/fetchcargo.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/rust/fetchcargo.nix
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
-{ stdenv, cacert, git, rustc, cargo, rustRegistry }:
+{ stdenv, cacert, git, cargo, rustRegistry }:
 { name ? "cargo-deps", src, srcs, sourceRoot, sha256, cargoUpdateHook ? "" }:
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation {
   name = "${name}-fetch";
-  buildInputs = [ rustc cargo git ];
+  buildInputs = [ cargo git ];
   inherit src srcs sourceRoot rustRegistry cargoUpdateHook;
 
   phases = "unpackPhase installPhase";
diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/cargo/common.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/cargo/common.nix
index 94b9ca1f665..941fe807307 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/cargo/common.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/cargo/common.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{stdenv, version}:
+{stdenv, version, rustc}:
 
 {
   inherit version;
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@
        "$out/lib/rustlib/rust-installer-version" \
        "$out/lib/rustlib/uninstall.sh" \
        "$out/lib/rustlib/manifest-cargo"
+
+     wrapProgram "$out/bin/cargo" --suffix PATH : "${rustc}/bin"
   '';
 
   platform = if stdenv.system == "i686-linux"
@@ -23,6 +25,8 @@
     then "x86_64-apple-darwin"
     else throw "no snapshot to bootstrap for this platform (missing platform url suffix)";
 
+  passthru.rustc = rustc;
+
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
     homepage = http://crates.io;
     description = "Downloads your Rust project's dependencies and builds your project";
diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/cargo/default.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/cargo/default.nix
index c614e8c2386..bdd6c18e92c 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/cargo/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/cargo/default.nix
@@ -1,12 +1,15 @@
 { stdenv, fetchgit, rustPlatform, file, curl, python, pkgconfig, openssl
-, cmake, zlib }:
-
-with ((import ./common.nix) { inherit stdenv; version = "0.6.0"; });
+, cmake, zlib, makeWrapper }:
 
 with rustPlatform;
 
+with ((import ./common.nix) {
+  inherit stdenv rustc;
+  version = "0.6.0";
+});
+
 buildRustPackage rec {
-  inherit name version meta;
+  inherit name version meta passthru;
 
   # Needs to use fetchgit instead of fetchFromGitHub to fetch submodules
   src = fetchgit {
@@ -17,7 +20,7 @@ buildRustPackage rec {
 
   depsSha256 = "1m045yywv67sx75idbsny59d3dzbqnhr07k41jial5n5zwp87mb9";
 
-  buildInputs = [ file curl pkgconfig python openssl cmake zlib ];
+  buildInputs = [ file curl pkgconfig python openssl cmake zlib makeWrapper ];
 
   configurePhase = ''
     ./configure --enable-optimize --prefix=$out --local-cargo=${cargo}/bin/cargo
diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/cargo/snapshot.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/cargo/snapshot.nix
index f24bcc2d9ab..ad07148815b 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/cargo/snapshot.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/cargo/snapshot.nix
@@ -1,11 +1,14 @@
-{ stdenv, fetchurl, zlib }:
+{ stdenv, fetchurl, zlib, makeWrapper, rustc }:
 
 /* Cargo binary snapshot */
 
 let snapshotDate = "2015-06-17";
 in
 
-with ((import ./common.nix) { inherit stdenv; version = "snapshot-${snapshotDate}"; });
+with ((import ./common.nix) {
+  inherit stdenv rustc;
+  version = "snapshot-${snapshotDate}";
+});
 
 let snapshotHash = if stdenv.system == "i686-linux"
       then "g2h9l35123r72hqdwayd9h79kspfb4y9"
@@ -20,23 +23,23 @@ let snapshotHash = if stdenv.system == "i686-linux"
 in
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation {
-  inherit name version meta;
+  inherit name version meta passthru;
 
   src = fetchurl {
     url = "https://static-rust-lang-org.s3.amazonaws.com/cargo-dist/${snapshotDate}/${snapshotName}";
     sha1 = snapshotHash;
   };
 
+  buildInputs = [ makeWrapper ];
+
   dontStrip = true;
 
   installPhase = ''
     mkdir -p "$out"
     ./install.sh "--prefix=$out"
-
-    ${postInstall}
   '' + (if stdenv.isLinux then ''
     patchelf --interpreter "${stdenv.glibc}/lib/${stdenv.cc.dynamicLinker}" \
              --set-rpath "${stdenv.cc.cc}/lib/:${stdenv.cc.cc}/lib64/:${zlib}/lib" \
              "$out/bin/cargo"
-  '' else "");
+  '' else "") + postInstall;
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 744ad14e4c9..8fcc8a6b419 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -4773,23 +4773,27 @@ let
 
   rustPlatform = rustStable;
 
-  rustStable = recurseIntoAttrs (makeRustPlatform rustc cargo rustStable);
-  rustUnstable = recurseIntoAttrs (makeRustPlatform rustcMaster
-    (cargo.override { rustPlatform = rustUnstableCargoPlatform;  }) rustUnstable);
+  rustStable = recurseIntoAttrs (makeRustPlatform cargo rustStable);
+  rustUnstable = recurseIntoAttrs (makeRustPlatform
+    (cargo.override { rustPlatform = rustUnstableCargoPlatform; }) rustUnstable);
 
   # rust platform to build cargo itself (with cargoSnapshot)
-  rustCargoPlatform = makeRustPlatform rustc cargoSnapshot.cargo rustCargoPlatform;
-  rustUnstableCargoPlatform = makeRustPlatform rustcMaster cargoSnapshot.cargo rustUnstableCargoPlatform;
+  rustCargoPlatform = makeRustPlatform (cargoSnapshot rustc) rustCargoPlatform;
+  rustUnstableCargoPlatform = makeRustPlatform (cargoSnapshot rustcMaster) rustUnstableCargoPlatform;
 
-  makeRustPlatform = rustc: cargo: self:
+  makeRustPlatform = cargo: self:
     let
       callPackage = newScope self;
     in {
-      inherit rustc cargo;
+      inherit cargo;
+
+      rustc = cargo.rustc;
 
       rustRegistry = callPackage ./rust-packages.nix { };
 
-      buildRustPackage = callPackage ../build-support/rust { };
+      buildRustPackage = callPackage ../build-support/rust {
+        inherit cargo;
+      };
     };
 
   rustfmt = callPackage ../development/tools/rust/rustfmt { };
@@ -5422,9 +5426,10 @@ let
     rustPlatform = rustCargoPlatform;
   };
 
-  cargoSnapshot = {
-    cargo = callPackage ../development/tools/build-managers/cargo/snapshot.nix { };
-  };
+  cargoSnapshot = rustc:
+    callPackage ../development/tools/build-managers/cargo/snapshot.nix {
+      inherit rustc;
+    };
 
   casperjs = callPackage ../development/tools/casperjs { };