diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/generic/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/generic/default.nix
index 781fc273de4..210c75accee 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/generic/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/generic/default.nix
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
    (http://pypi.python.org/pypi/setuptools/), which represents a large
    number of Python packages nowadays.  */
 
-{ python, setuptools, wrapPython, lib, site }:
+{ python, setuptools, wrapPython, lib }:
 
 { name, namePrefix ? "python-"
 
@@ -69,8 +69,7 @@ python.stdenv.mkDerivation (attrs // {
 
   buildInputs = [ python wrapPython setuptools ] ++ buildInputs ++ pythonPath;
 
-  # XXX: I think setuptools is not needed here
-  pythonPath = [ setuptools site ] ++ pythonPath;
+  pythonPath = [ setuptools] ++ pythonPath;
 
   # XXX: Should we run `easy_install --always-unzip'?  It doesn't seem
   # to have a noticeable impact on small scripts.
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/setuptools/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/setuptools/default.nix
index c478c25a2fa..97e77a279d3 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/setuptools/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/setuptools/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ stdenv, fetchurl, python, wrapPython, site }:
+{ stdenv, fetchurl, python, wrapPython }:
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   name = "setuptools-0.6c11";
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     sha256 = "1lx1hwxkhipyh206bgl90ddnfcnb68bzcvyawczbf833fadyl3v3";
   };
 
-  buildInputs = [ python wrapPython site ];
+  buildInputs = [ python wrapPython ];
 
   buildPhase = "python setup.py build --build-base $out";
 
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
       # remove generic files, leave setuptools.pth
       rm $dst/site.py*
       rm $dst/easy-install.pth
-      pythonPath=${site} wrapPythonPrograms
+      wrapPythonPrograms
     '';
 
   doCheck = false; # doesn't work with Python 2.7
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
index 5abc9bc8020..cb33d056418 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
@@ -9,13 +9,13 @@ let pythonPackages = python.modules // rec {
 
   buildPythonPackage = import ../development/python-modules/generic {
     inherit (pkgs) lib;
-    inherit python wrapPython setuptools site;
+    inherit python wrapPython setuptools;
   };
 
 
   setuptools = import ../development/python-modules/setuptools {
     inherit (pkgs) stdenv fetchurl;
-    inherit python wrapPython site;
+    inherit python wrapPython;
   };