diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/neovim/wrapper.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/neovim/wrapper.nix
index ffe597b00db..c0b97667757 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/neovim/wrapper.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/neovim/wrapper.nix
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ let
         # Only display the log on error since it will contain a few normally
         # irrelevant messages.
         if ! $out/bin/nvim \
-          -u ${vimUtils.vimrcFile (configure // { customRC = ""; beforePlugins = ''filetype indent plugin on | syn on''; })} \
+          -u ${vimUtils.vimrcFile (configure // { customRC = ""; })} \
           -i NONE -n \
           -E -V1rplugins.log -s \
           +UpdateRemotePlugins +quit! > outfile 2>&1; then
diff --git a/pkgs/misc/vim-plugins/vim-utils.nix b/pkgs/misc/vim-plugins/vim-utils.nix
index d1b1bc846eb..ca51cc4bab1 100644
--- a/pkgs/misc/vim-plugins/vim-utils.nix
+++ b/pkgs/misc/vim-plugins/vim-utils.nix
@@ -188,8 +188,7 @@ let
     vam ? null,
     pathogen ? null,
     plug ? null,
-    customRC ? "",
-    beforePlugins ? "",
+    customRC ? ""
   }:
 
     let
@@ -342,8 +341,6 @@ let
   " minimal setup, generated by NIX
   set nocompatible
 
-  ${beforePlugins}
-
   ${vamImpl}
   ${pathogenImpl}
   ${plugImpl}