diff --git a/pkgs/development/go-modules/generic/default.nix b/pkgs/development/go-modules/generic/default.nix
index 0e092473bd5..deebba5cfec 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/go-modules/generic/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/go-modules/generic/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ go, govers, parallel, lib, fetchgit, fetchhg, fetchbzr, rsync
+{ go, govers, lib, fetchgit, fetchhg, fetchbzr, rsync
 , removeReferencesTo, fetchFromGitHub }:
 
 { name, buildInputs ? [], nativeBuildInputs ? [], passthru ? {}, preFixup ? ""
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ go.stdenv.mkDerivation (
   (builtins.removeAttrs args [ "goPackageAliases" "disabled" ]) // {
 
   inherit name;
-  nativeBuildInputs = [ removeReferencesTo go parallel ]
+  nativeBuildInputs = [ removeReferencesTo go ]
     ++ (lib.optional (!dontRenameImports) govers) ++ nativeBuildInputs;
   buildInputs = [ go ] ++ buildInputs;
 
@@ -162,11 +162,11 @@ go.stdenv.mkDerivation (
     else
       touch $TMPDIR/buildFlagsArray
     fi
-    export -f buildGoDir # parallel needs to see the function
+    export -f buildGoDir # xargs needs to see the function
     if [ -z "$enableParallelBuilding" ]; then
         export NIX_BUILD_CORES=1
     fi
-    getGoDirs "" | parallel -j $NIX_BUILD_CORES buildGoDir install
+    getGoDirs "" | xargs -n1 -P $NIX_BUILD_CORES bash -c 'buildGoDir install "$@"' --
 
     runHook postBuild
   '';
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ go.stdenv.mkDerivation (
   checkPhase = args.checkPhase or ''
     runHook preCheck
 
-    getGoDirs test | parallel -j $NIX_BUILD_CORES buildGoDir test
+    getGoDirs test | xargs -n1 -P $NIX_BUILD_CORES bash -c 'buildGoDir test "$@"' --
 
     runHook postCheck
   '';