diff --git a/pkgs/applications/networking/browsers/surf/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/networking/browsers/surf/default.nix
index 88680414d1c..3a7612bb0fb 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/networking/browsers/surf/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/networking/browsers/surf/default.nix
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   inherit patches;
 
-  installFlags = [ "PREFIX=/" "DESTDIR=$(out)" ];
+  installFlags = [ "PREFIX=$(out)" ];
 
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
     description = "A simple web browser based on WebKit/GTK+";
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin-plugins/msn-pecan/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin-plugins/msn-pecan/default.nix
index 3b8cdd7a8cc..45214944309 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin-plugins/msn-pecan/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin-plugins/msn-pecan/default.nix
@@ -13,9 +13,10 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
     platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.linux;
   };
 
-  makeFlags = "PURPLE_LIBDIR=lib PURPLE_DATADIR=share/data DESTDIR=$$out";
-  preInstall = "mkdir -p \$out/share";
-  postInstall = "ln -s \$out/lib/purple-2 \$out/share/pidgin-msn-pecan";
+  makeFlags = [
+    "PURPLE_LIBDIR=${placeholder "out"}/lib"
+    "PURPLE_DATADIR=${placeholder "out"}/share/data"
+  ];
 
   buildInputs = [pidgin];
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin-plugins/pidgin-mra/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin-plugins/pidgin-mra/default.nix
index 574c01c2cde..18bf89a5f2e 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin-plugins/pidgin-mra/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin-plugins/pidgin-mra/default.nix
@@ -15,13 +15,16 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   nativeBuildInputs = [ pkgconfig ];
   buildInputs = [ pidgin ];
 
-  preConfigure = ''
+  postPatch = ''
     sed -i 's|-I/usr/include/libpurple|$(shell pkg-config --cflags purple)|' Makefile
-    export DESTDIR=$out
-    export LIBDIR=/lib
-    export DATADIR=/share
   '';
 
+  makeFlags = [
+    "DESTDIR=/"
+    "LIBDIR=${placeholder "out"}/lib"
+    "DATADIR=${placeholder "out"}/share"
+  ];
+
   meta = {
     homepage = https://github.com/dreadatour/pidgin-mra;
     description = "Mail.ru Agent plugin for Pidgin / libpurple";
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin-plugins/pidgin-opensteamworks/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin-plugins/pidgin-opensteamworks/default.nix
index b8d6cf6aee3..7e86a390edc 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin-plugins/pidgin-opensteamworks/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin-plugins/pidgin-opensteamworks/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ stdenv, fetchFromGitHub, pidgin, unzip, glib, json-glib, nss, nspr, libgnome-keyring } :
+{ stdenv, fetchFromGitHub, pidgin, glib, json-glib, nss, nspr, libgnome-keyring } :
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   name = "pidgin-opensteamworks-${version}";
@@ -13,12 +13,11 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   preConfigure = "cd steam-mobile";
   installFlags = [
-    "DESTDIR=$(out)"
-    "PLUGIN_DIR_PURPLE=/lib/purple-2"
-    "DATA_ROOT_DIR_PURPLE=/share"
+    "PLUGIN_DIR_PURPLE=${placeholder "out"}/lib/purple-2"
+    "DATA_ROOT_DIR_PURPLE=${placeholder "out"}/share"
   ];
 
-  buildInputs = [ pidgin unzip glib json-glib nss nspr libgnome-keyring ];
+  buildInputs = [ pidgin glib json-glib nss nspr libgnome-keyring ];
 
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
     homepage = https://github.com/EionRobb/pidgin-opensteamworks;
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin-plugins/pidgin-skypeweb/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin-plugins/pidgin-skypeweb/default.nix
index 6e589febe6d..5fbf385ed07 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin-plugins/pidgin-skypeweb/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin-plugins/pidgin-skypeweb/default.nix
@@ -2,13 +2,13 @@
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   name = "pidgin-skypeweb-${version}";
-  version = "1.2.2";
+  version = "1.5";
 
   src = fetchFromGitHub {
     owner = "EionRobb";
     repo = "skype4pidgin";
-    rev = "${version}";
-    sha256 = "1lxpz316jmns6i143v4j6sd6k0a4a54alw08rvwjckf2rig57lj2";
+    rev = version;
+    sha256 = "1bd9gd36yhrbrww0dvai9rnzxxj1c9sb4003c72wg27w12y47xfv";
   };
 
   setSourceRoot = ''
@@ -18,13 +18,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   nativeBuildInputs = [ pkgconfig ];
   buildInputs = [ pidgin json-glib ];
 
-  makeFlags = [
-    "PLUGIN_DIR_PURPLE=/lib/pidgin/"
-    "DATA_ROOT_DIR_PURPLE=/share"
-    "DESTDIR=$(out)"
-  ];
-
-  postInstall = "ln -s \$out/lib/pidgin \$out/share/pidgin-skypeweb";
+  PKG_CONFIG_PURPLE_PLUGINDIR = "${placeholder "out"}/lib/purple-2";
+  PKG_CONFIG_PURPLE_DATADIR = "${placeholder "out"}/share";
 
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
     homepage = https://github.com/EionRobb/skype4pidgin;
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin-plugins/purple-discord/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin-plugins/purple-discord/default.nix
index af58aaa0a76..ba1d64c8b92 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin-plugins/purple-discord/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin-plugins/purple-discord/default.nix
@@ -14,12 +14,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   nativeBuildInputs = [ pkgconfig ];
   buildInputs = [ pidgin json-glib ];
 
-  makeFlags = [
-    "DESTDIR=$(out)"
-  ];
-
-  PKG_CONFIG_PURPLE_PLUGINDIR = "/lib/purple-2";
-  PKG_CONFIG_PURPLE_DATADIR = "/share";
+  PKG_CONFIG_PURPLE_PLUGINDIR = "${placeholder "out"}/lib/purple-2";
+  PKG_CONFIG_PURPLE_DATADIR = "${placeholder "out"}/share";
 
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
     homepage = https://github.com/EionRobb/purple-discord;
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin-plugins/purple-matrix/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin-plugins/purple-matrix/default.nix
index d4a26a266c3..0b2cba64920 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin-plugins/purple-matrix/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin-plugins/purple-matrix/default.nix
@@ -18,9 +18,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   hardeningDisable = [ "fortify" ]; # upstream compiles with -O0
 
   makeFlags = [
-    "DESTDIR=$(out)"
-    "PLUGIN_DIR_PURPLE=/lib/pidgin/"
-    "DATA_ROOT_DIR_PURPLE=/share"
+    "PLUGIN_DIR_PURPLE=${placeholder "out"}/lib/purple-2"
+    "DATA_ROOT_DIR_PURPLE=${placeholder "out"}/share"
   ];
 
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/filesystems/duperemove/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/filesystems/duperemove/default.nix
index 56795332a96..208cbb83209 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/filesystems/duperemove/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/filesystems/duperemove/default.nix
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   nativeBuildInputs = [ pkgconfig ];
   buildInputs = [ libgcrypt glib linuxHeaders sqlite ];
 
-  makeFlags = [ "DESTDIR=$(out)" "PREFIX=" ];
+  makeFlags = [ "PREFIX=${placeholder "out"}" ];
 
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
     description = "A simple tool for finding duplicated extents and submitting them for deduplication";
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/networking/tgt/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/networking/tgt/default.nix
index b2ef684f589..71c9263a6e2 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/networking/tgt/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/networking/tgt/default.nix
@@ -15,9 +15,14 @@ in stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   buildInputs = [ libxslt systemd libaio docbook_xsl ];
 
-  DESTDIR = "$(out)";
-  PREFIX = "/";
-  SD_NOTIFY="1";
+  makeFlags = [
+    "PREFIX=${placeholder "out"}"
+    "SD_NOTIFY=1"
+  ];
+
+  installFlags = [
+    "sysconfdir=${placeholder "out"}/etc"
+  ];
 
   preConfigure = ''
     sed -i 's|/usr/bin/||' doc/Makefile