diff --git a/pkgs/tools/networking/gvpe/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/networking/gvpe/default.nix
index ead9f42c679..7fdb548e7b0 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/networking/gvpe/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/networking/gvpe/default.nix
@@ -17,7 +17,11 @@ rec {
     ];
 
   /* doConfigure should be removed if not needed */
-  phaseNames = ["doConfigure" "doMakeInstall"];
+  phaseNames = ["doConfigure" "preBuild" "doMakeInstall"];
+  preBuild = a.fullDepEntry (''
+    sed -e 's@"/sbin/ifconfig.*"@"${a.iproute}/sbin/ip link set $IFNAME address $MAC mtu $MTU"@' -i src/device-linux.C
+    sed -e 's@/sbin/ifconfig@${a.nettools}/sbin/ifconfig@g' -i src/device-*.C
+  '') ["minInit" "doUnpack"];
       
   meta = {
     description = "A proteted multinode virtual network";
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 87cc88d826e..45e8b616430 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -850,7 +850,7 @@ let
   };
 
   gvpe = builderDefsPackage ../tools/networking/gvpe {
-    inherit openssl gmp;
+    inherit openssl gmp nettools iproute;
   };
 
   gzip = useFromStdenv "gzip"