diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/darwin/apple-sdk/default.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/darwin/apple-sdk/default.nix
index 47dce7b6620..ea899b6abcf 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/darwin/apple-sdk/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/darwin/apple-sdk/default.nix
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ let
       cd Library/Frameworks/QuartzCore.framework/Versions/A/Headers
       for file in CI*.h; do
         rm $file
-        ln -s ../Frameworks/CoreImage.framework/Versions/A/Headers/$file
+        ln -s ../Frameworks/CoreImage.framework/Headers/$file
       done
     '';
 
@@ -151,10 +151,6 @@ in rec {
   };
 
   overrides = super: {
-    CoreText = stdenv.lib.overrideDerivation super.CoreText (drv: {
-      propagatedNativeBuildInputs = drv.propagatedNativeBuildInputs ++ [ pkgs.darwin.cf-private ];
-    });
-
     QuartzCore = stdenv.lib.overrideDerivation super.QuartzCore (drv: {
       installPhase = drv.installPhase + ''
         f="$out/Library/Frameworks/QuartzCore.framework/Headers/CoreImage.h"
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/darwin/cf-private/default.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/darwin/cf-private/default.nix
index 8c91e7fb297..17b2861a107 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/darwin/cf-private/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/darwin/cf-private/default.nix
@@ -3,16 +3,28 @@
 let
   headers = [
     "CFAttributedString.h"
+    "CFFileDescriptor.h"
+    "CFFileSecurity.h"
     "CFNotificationCenter.h"
+    "CFStringTokenizer.h"
+    "CFURLEnumerator.h"
     "CoreFoundation.h"
   ];
 
 in stdenv.mkDerivation {
   name = "${CF.name}-private";
-  unpackPhase = ":";
-  buildPhase = ":";
+  phases = [ "installPhase" "fixupPhase" ];
   installPhase = ''
-    mkdir -p $out/include/CoreFoundation
-    install -m 0644 ${osx_private_sdk}/PrivateSDK10.10.sparse.sdk/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreFoundation.framework/Headers/{${stdenv.lib.concatStringsSep "," headers}} $out/include/CoreFoundation
+    dest=$out/Library/Frameworks/CoreFoundation.framework/Headers
+    mkdir -p $dest
+    pushd $dest
+    for file in ${CF}/Library/Frameworks/CoreFoundation.framework/Headers/*; do
+      ln -s $file
+    done
+    popd
+
+    install -m 0644 ${osx_private_sdk}/PrivateSDK10.10.sparse.sdk/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreFoundation.framework/Headers/{${stdenv.lib.concatStringsSep "," headers}} $dest
   '';
+
+  setupHook = ./setup-hook.sh;
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/darwin/cf-private/setup-hook.sh b/pkgs/os-specific/darwin/cf-private/setup-hook.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a83a1323bf8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/darwin/cf-private/setup-hook.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+prependSearchPath() {
+  NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE="-F@out@/Library/Frameworks ${NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE/"-F@out@/Library/Frameworks"/}"
+}
+
+linkWithRealCF() {
+  # gross! many symbols (such as _OBJC_CLASS_$_NSArray) are defined in system CF, but not
+  # in the opensource release
+  # if the package needs private headers, we assume they also want to link with system CF
+  NIX_LDFLAGS+=" /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreFoundation.framework/CoreFoundation"
+}
+
+preConfigureHooks+=(prependSearchPath linkWithRealCF)