diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/rust/default.nix b/pkgs/build-support/rust/default.nix
index e79e902bcda..d3e13b913f3 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/rust/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/rust/default.nix
@@ -29,6 +29,12 @@
 , target ? null
 , cargoVendorDir ? null
 , checkType ? buildType
+
+# Needed to `pushd`/`popd` into a subdir of a tarball if this subdir
+# contains a Cargo.toml, but isn't part of a workspace (which is e.g. the
+# case for `rustfmt`/etc from the `rust-sources).
+# Otherwise, everything from the tarball would've been built/tested.
+, buildAndTestSubdir ? null
 , ... } @ args:
 
 assert cargoVendorDir == null -> cargoSha256 != "unset";
@@ -162,6 +168,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (args // {
   '';
 
   buildPhase = with builtins; args.buildPhase or ''
+    ${stdenv.lib.optionalString (buildAndTestSubdir != null) "pushd ${buildAndTestSubdir}"}
     runHook preBuild
 
     (
@@ -178,9 +185,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (args // {
     )
 
     runHook postBuild
-  '';
 
-  postBuild = args.postBuild or "" + ''
+    ${stdenv.lib.optionalString (buildAndTestSubdir != null) "popd"}
 
     # This needs to be done after postBuild: packages like `cargo` do a pushd/popd in
     # the pre/postBuild-hooks that need to be taken into account before gathering
@@ -194,10 +200,12 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (args // {
   checkPhase = args.checkPhase or (let
     argstr = "${stdenv.lib.optionalString (checkType == "release") "--release"} --target ${rustTarget} --frozen";
   in ''
+    ${stdenv.lib.optionalString (buildAndTestSubdir != null) "pushd ${buildAndTestSubdir}"}
     runHook preCheck
     echo "Running cargo test ${argstr} -- ''${checkFlags} ''${checkFlagsArray+''${checkFlagsArray[@]}}"
     cargo test ${argstr} -- ''${checkFlags} ''${checkFlagsArray+"''${checkFlagsArray[@]}"}
     runHook postCheck
+    ${stdenv.lib.optionalString (buildAndTestSubdir != null) "popd"}
   '');
 
   doCheck = args.doCheck or true;
diff --git a/pkgs/development/compilers/rust/cargo.nix b/pkgs/development/compilers/rust/cargo.nix
index 65614b9480e..dfea7f6c8ef 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/compilers/rust/cargo.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/compilers/rust/cargo.nix
@@ -9,8 +9,7 @@ rustPlatform.buildRustPackage {
 
   # the rust source tarball already has all the dependencies vendored, no need to fetch them again
   cargoVendorDir = "vendor";
-  preBuild = "pushd src/tools/cargo";
-  postBuild = "popd";
+  buildAndTestSubdir = "src/tools/cargo";
 
   passthru.rustc = rustc;
 
diff --git a/pkgs/development/compilers/rust/clippy.nix b/pkgs/development/compilers/rust/clippy.nix
index 4857b587847..0546ad9bac1 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/compilers/rust/clippy.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/compilers/rust/clippy.nix
@@ -5,8 +5,7 @@ rustPlatform.buildRustPackage {
 
   # the rust source tarball already has all the dependencies vendored, no need to fetch them again
   cargoVendorDir = "vendor";
-  preBuild = "pushd src/tools/clippy";
-  postBuild = "popd";
+  buildAndTestSubdir = "src/tools/clippy";
 
   # changes hash of vendor directory otherwise
   dontUpdateAutotoolsGnuConfigScripts = true;
diff --git a/pkgs/development/compilers/rust/rls/default.nix b/pkgs/development/compilers/rust/rls/default.nix
index 4cf507fbf5c..a050be7c2bf 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/compilers/rust/rls/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/compilers/rust/rls/default.nix
@@ -10,8 +10,9 @@ rustPlatform.buildRustPackage {
   dontUpdateAutotoolsGnuConfigScripts = true;
 
   cargoVendorDir = "vendor";
+  buildAndTestSubdir = "src/tools/rls";
+
   preBuild = ''
-    pushd src/tools/rls
     # client tests are flaky
     rm tests/client.rs
   '';
@@ -28,8 +29,6 @@ rustPlatform.buildRustPackage {
 
   doCheck = true;
 
-  preInstall = "popd";
-
   doInstallCheck = true;
   installCheckPhase = ''
     $out/bin/rls --version
diff --git a/pkgs/development/compilers/rust/rustfmt.nix b/pkgs/development/compilers/rust/rustfmt.nix
index f8ed0bce2e0..66a18f40ad4 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/compilers/rust/rustfmt.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/compilers/rust/rustfmt.nix
@@ -6,8 +6,7 @@ rustPlatform.buildRustPackage rec {
 
   # the rust source tarball already has all the dependencies vendored, no need to fetch them again
   cargoVendorDir = "vendor";
-  preBuild = "pushd src/tools/rustfmt";
-  preInstall = "popd";
+  buildAndTestSubdir = "src/tools/rustfmt";
 
   # changes hash of vendor directory otherwise
   dontUpdateAutotoolsGnuConfigScripts = true;
@@ -17,12 +16,6 @@ rustPlatform.buildRustPackage rec {
   # As of 1.0.0 and rustc 1.30 rustfmt requires a nightly compiler
   RUSTC_BOOTSTRAP = 1;
 
-  # we run tests in debug mode so tests look for a debug build of
-  # rustfmt. Anyway this adds nearly no compilation time.
-  preCheck = ''
-    cargo build
-  '';
-
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
     description = "A tool for formatting Rust code according to style guidelines";
     homepage = "https://github.com/rust-lang-nursery/rustfmt";
diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/rust/rust-analyzer/generic.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/rust/rust-analyzer/generic.nix
index de755ec17ff..ae6ad80cdd9 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/rust/rust-analyzer/generic.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/rust/rust-analyzer/generic.nix
@@ -15,9 +15,7 @@ rustPlatform.buildRustPackage {
     inherit rev sha256;
   };
 
-  preBuild = "pushd crates/rust-analyzer";
-  # Do not checking other crates in checkPhase.
-  preInstall = "popd";
+  buildAndTestSubdir = "crates/rust-analyzer";
 
   cargoBuildFlags = lib.optional useJemalloc "--features=jemalloc";