diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/coreutils-diet/coreutils-dummy.patch b/pkgs/tools/misc/coreutils-diet/coreutils-dummy.patch
deleted file mode 100644
index bb444bedf0e..00000000000
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/coreutils-diet/coreutils-dummy.patch
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,24 +0,0 @@
-diff -ruN coreutils-5.2.1/src/paste.c coreutils-5.2.1.new/src/paste.c
---- coreutils-5.2.1/src/paste.c	2004-01-23 09:57:02.000000000 +0100
-+++ coreutils-5.2.1.new/src/paste.c	2005-08-28 16:03:10.000000000 +0200
-@@ -52,13 +52,16 @@
- /* Indicates that no delimiter should be added in the current position. */
- #define EMPTY_DELIM '\0'
- 
--static FILE dummy_closed;
-+/* static FILE dummy_closed; */
- /* Element marking a file that has reached EOF and been closed. */
--#define CLOSED (&dummy_closed)
-+/* #define CLOSED (&dummy_closed) */
- 
--static FILE dummy_endlist;
-+/* static FILE dummy_endlist; */
- /* Element marking end of list of open files. */
--#define ENDLIST (&dummy_endlist)
-+/* #define ENDLIST (&dummy_endlist) */
-+
-+#define CLOSED ((FILE *)-1)
-+#define ENDLIST ((FILE *)-2)
- 
- /* Name this program was run with. */
- char *program_name;
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/coreutils-diet/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/coreutils-diet/default.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index d372c7ec949..00000000000
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/coreutils-diet/default.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
-{stdenv, fetchurl, dietgcc, perl}:
-
-stdenv.mkDerivation {
-  name = "coreutils-diet-5.2.1";
-  src = fetchurl {
-    url = http://nix.cs.uu.nl/dist/tarballs/coreutils-5.2.1.tar.bz2;
-    md5 = "172ee3c315af93d3385ddfbeb843c53f";
-  };
-  # patch from
-  # http://invaders.mars-attacks.org/~boklm/browse/doc/srs2005/alink/files/patch-coreutils-5.2.1-alink0.1.diff
-  patches = [./coreutils-dummy.patch];
-  buildInputs = [perl];
-  NIX_GCC = dietgcc;
-  NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE="-D_BSD_SOURCE=1";
-}
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/coreutils/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/coreutils/default.nix
index 8d3c9365ffc..bd550a7a758 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/coreutils/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/coreutils/default.nix
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
 {stdenv, fetchurl}:
 
-stdenv.mkDerivation {
+stdenv.mkDerivation ({
   name = "coreutils-5.97";
   src = fetchurl {
     url = http://nix.cs.uu.nl/dist/tarballs/coreutils-5.97.tar.gz;
     md5 = "bdec4b75c76ac9bf51b6dd1747d3b06e";
   };
-}
+} // (if stdenv ? isDietLibC then {
+  NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE="-D_BSD_SOURCE=1";
+  patches = [./uclibc.patch];
+} else {}))
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/coreutils/uclibc.patch b/pkgs/tools/misc/coreutils/uclibc.patch
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..82c03334b01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/coreutils/uclibc.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+diff -rc coreutils-5.97-orig/lib/strftime.c coreutils-5.97/lib/strftime.c
+*** coreutils-5.97-orig/lib/strftime.c	2006-10-18 17:10:16.000000000 +0200
+--- coreutils-5.97/lib/strftime.c	2006-10-18 17:08:16.000000000 +0200
+***************
+*** 180,185 ****
+--- 180,191 ----
+  # define memset_zero(P, Len) (memset (P, '0', Len), (P) += (Len))
+  #endif
+  
++ #if FPRINTFTIME
++ #define advance(p, n) ;
++ #else
++ #define advance(p, n) p += _n;
++ #endif 
++ 
+  #define add(n, f)							      \
+    do									      \
+      {									      \
+***************
+*** 198,204 ****
+  		memset_space (p, _delta);				      \
+  	    }								      \
+  	  f;								      \
+! 	  p += FPRINTFTIME ? 0 : _n;					      \
+  	}								      \
+        i += _incr;							      \
+      } while (0)
+--- 204,210 ----
+  		memset_space (p, _delta);				      \
+  	    }								      \
+  	  f;								      \
+! 	  advance(p, n);						      \
+  	}								      \
+        i += _incr;							      \
+      } while (0)
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 96a78e173a3..27de01bae86 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -82,7 +82,9 @@ rec {
         
         # These are added *after* the command-line flags, so we'll
         # always optimise for size.
-        NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE = "-Os -s";
+        NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE =
+          (if args ? NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE then args.NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE else "")
+          + " -Os -s";
         
         configureFlags =
           (if args ? configureFlags then args.configureFlags else "")
@@ -96,6 +98,7 @@ rec {
           nativeGlibc = false;
         };
       });
+      isDietLibC = true;
     };
 
   # Applying this to an attribute set will cause nix-env to look
@@ -217,8 +220,9 @@ rec {
       inherit fetchurl stdenv;
     });
 
-  coreutilsDiet = import ../tools/misc/coreutils-diet {
-    inherit fetchurl stdenv dietgcc perl;
+  coreutilsDiet = import ../tools/misc/coreutils {
+    inherit fetchurl;
+    stdenv = useDietLibC stdenv;
   };
 
   cpio = import ../tools/archivers/cpio {