diff --git a/pkgs/desktops/plasma-5/kwin/0001-follow-symlinks.patch b/pkgs/desktops/plasma-5/kwin/0001-follow-symlinks.patch
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4861df46ca6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/desktops/plasma-5/kwin/0001-follow-symlinks.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+From 449896c45b23f50c168d8d2789832024c906ec36 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
+From: Thomas Tuegel <ttuegel@mailbox.org>
+Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2020 05:31:13 -0600
+Subject: [PATCH 1/2] follow symlinks
+
+---
+ plugins/kdecorations/aurorae/src/aurorae.cpp | 2 +-
+ 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
+
+diff --git a/plugins/kdecorations/aurorae/src/aurorae.cpp b/plugins/kdecorations/aurorae/src/aurorae.cpp
+index fd723a8..fb95633 100644
+--- a/plugins/kdecorations/aurorae/src/aurorae.cpp
++++ b/plugins/kdecorations/aurorae/src/aurorae.cpp
+@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ void Helper::init()
+     // so let's try to locate our plugin:
+     QString pluginPath;
+     for (const QString &path : m_engine->importPathList()) {
+-        QDirIterator it(path, QDirIterator::Subdirectories);
++        QDirIterator it(path, QDirIterator::Subdirectories | QDirIterator::FollowSymlinks);
+         while (it.hasNext()) {
+             it.next();
+             QFileInfo fileInfo = it.fileInfo();
+-- 
+2.23.1
+
diff --git a/pkgs/desktops/plasma-5/kwin/xwayland.patch b/pkgs/desktops/plasma-5/kwin/0002-xwayland.patch
similarity index 50%
rename from pkgs/desktops/plasma-5/kwin/xwayland.patch
rename to pkgs/desktops/plasma-5/kwin/0002-xwayland.patch
index 9d405b3bbb8..0505810abe6 100644
--- a/pkgs/desktops/plasma-5/kwin/xwayland.patch
+++ b/pkgs/desktops/plasma-5/kwin/0002-xwayland.patch
@@ -1,8 +1,17 @@
-Index: kwin-5.15.5/xwl/xwayland.cpp
-===================================================================
---- kwin-5.15.5.orig/xwl/xwayland.cpp
-+++ kwin-5.15.5/xwl/xwayland.cpp
-@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ void Xwayland::init()
+From d584b075d71c4486710c0bbed6d44038f2ff5075 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
+From: Thomas Tuegel <ttuegel@mailbox.org>
+Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2020 05:31:23 -0600
+Subject: [PATCH 2/2] xwayland
+
+---
+ xwl/xwayland.cpp | 2 +-
+ 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
+
+diff --git a/xwl/xwayland.cpp b/xwl/xwayland.cpp
+index 5f17d39..b4b69ba 100644
+--- a/xwl/xwayland.cpp
++++ b/xwl/xwayland.cpp
+@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ void Xwayland::init()
  
      m_xwaylandProcess = new Process(this);
      m_xwaylandProcess->setProcessChannelMode(QProcess::ForwardedErrorChannel);
@@ -11,3 +20,6 @@ Index: kwin-5.15.5/xwl/xwayland.cpp
      QProcessEnvironment env = m_app->processStartupEnvironment();
      env.insert("WAYLAND_SOCKET", QByteArray::number(wlfd));
      env.insert("EGL_PLATFORM", QByteArrayLiteral("DRM"));
+-- 
+2.23.1
+
diff --git a/pkgs/desktops/plasma-5/kwin/default.nix b/pkgs/desktops/plasma-5/kwin/default.nix
index b8f381e9714..0e1709d8245 100644
--- a/pkgs/desktops/plasma-5/kwin/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/desktops/plasma-5/kwin/default.nix
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@
   plasma-framework, qtsensors, libcap, libdrm
 }:
 
+# TODO (ttuegel): investigate qmlplugindump failure
+# TODO (ttuegel): investigate gbm dependency
+
 mkDerivation {
   name = "kwin";
   nativeBuildInputs = [ extra-cmake-modules kdoctools ];
@@ -30,7 +33,10 @@ mkDerivation {
     libcap libdrm
   ];
   outputs = [ "bin" "dev" "out" ];
-  patches = copyPathsToStore (lib.readPathsFromFile ./. ./series);
+  patches = [
+    ./0001-follow-symlinks.patch
+    ./0002-xwayland.patch
+  ];
   CXXFLAGS = [
     ''-DNIXPKGS_XWAYLAND=\"${lib.getBin xwayland}/bin/Xwayland\"''
   ];
diff --git a/pkgs/desktops/plasma-5/kwin/follow-symlinks.patch b/pkgs/desktops/plasma-5/kwin/follow-symlinks.patch
deleted file mode 100644
index 60b8f5ef541..00000000000
--- a/pkgs/desktops/plasma-5/kwin/follow-symlinks.patch
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-Index: kwin-5.7.3/plugins/kdecorations/aurorae/src/aurorae.cpp
-===================================================================
---- kwin-5.7.3.orig/plugins/kdecorations/aurorae/src/aurorae.cpp
-+++ kwin-5.7.3/plugins/kdecorations/aurorae/src/aurorae.cpp
-@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ void Helper::init()
-     // so let's try to locate our plugin:
-     QString pluginPath;
-     for (const QString &path : m_engine->importPathList()) {
--        QDirIterator it(path, QDirIterator::Subdirectories);
-+        QDirIterator it(path, QDirIterator::Subdirectories | QDirIterator::FollowSymlinks);
-         while (it.hasNext()) {
-             it.next();
-             QFileInfo fileInfo = it.fileInfo();
diff --git a/pkgs/desktops/plasma-5/kwin/no-setcap-install.patch b/pkgs/desktops/plasma-5/kwin/no-setcap-install.patch
deleted file mode 100644
index 80aacacc6ca..00000000000
--- a/pkgs/desktops/plasma-5/kwin/no-setcap-install.patch
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,24 +0,0 @@
-Dont set capabilities on kwin_wayland executable at build time
-
-This is handled by security.wrappers on NixOS
-
-diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
-index 48cbcdbfe..93b410ed8 100644
---- a/CMakeLists.txt
-+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
-@@ -674,15 +674,6 @@ if (HAVE_LIBCAP)
- endif()
-
- install(TARGETS kwin_wayland         ${INSTALL_TARGETS_DEFAULT_ARGS} )
--if (HAVE_LIBCAP)
--    install(
--    CODE "execute_process(
--            COMMAND
--                ${SETCAP_EXECUTABLE}
--                CAP_SYS_NICE=+ep
--                \$ENV{DESTDIR}${CMAKE_INSTALL_FULL_BINDIR}/kwin_wayland)"
--    )
--endif()
-
- add_subdirectory(platformsupport)
- add_subdirectory(plugins)
diff --git a/pkgs/desktops/plasma-5/kwin/series b/pkgs/desktops/plasma-5/kwin/series
deleted file mode 100644
index 8efb74eabd6..00000000000
--- a/pkgs/desktops/plasma-5/kwin/series
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-follow-symlinks.patch
-xwayland.patch
-no-setcap-install.patch