diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.4/default.nix b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.4/default.nix
index f83b69e71e4..f9673cc68d9 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.4/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.4/default.nix
@@ -8,14 +8,16 @@ let
 
   buildInputs =
     optional (stdenv ? gcc && stdenv.gcc.libc != null) stdenv.gcc.libc ++
-    [bzip2] ++ 
+    [bzip2] ++
     optional zlibSupport zlib;
 
 in
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation {
   name = "python-2.4.6";
-  
+  majorVersion = "2.4";
+  version = "2.4.6";
+
   src = fetchurl {
     url = http://www.python.org/ftp/python/2.4.6/Python-2.4.6.tar.bz2;
     sha256 = "021y88a4ki07dgq19yhg6zfvmncfiz7h5b2255438i9zmlwl246s";
@@ -25,22 +27,22 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
     # Look in C_INCLUDE_PATH and LIBRARY_PATH for stuff.
     ./search-path.patch
   ];
-  
+
   inherit buildInputs;
   C_INCLUDE_PATH = concatStringsSep ":" (map (p: "${p}/include") buildInputs);
   LIBRARY_PATH = concatStringsSep ":" (map (p: "${p}/lib") buildInputs);
-  
+
   configureFlags = "--enable-shared";
-  
+
   preConfigure = ''
     # Purity.
-    for i in /usr /sw /opt /pkg; do 
+    for i in /usr /sw /opt /pkg; do
       substituteInPlace ./setup.py --replace $i /no-such-path
     done
   '';
 
   setupHook = ./setup-hook.sh;
-  
+
   postInstall = ''
     rm -rf $out/lib/python2.4/test
   '';
diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.5/default.nix b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.5/default.nix
index 33aa66d765d..d1cb7703b9f 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.5/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.5/default.nix
@@ -39,7 +39,9 @@ in
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation ( {
   name = "python-2.5.4";
-  
+  majorVersion = "2.5";
+  version = "2.5.4";
+
   src = fetchurl {
     url = http://www.python.org/ftp/python/2.5.4/Python-2.5.4.tar.bz2;
     sha256 = "0401g346ixng1im6gp11rgkfhx3v05qrpn5qjfx26mgy5dm8k3dw";
@@ -49,15 +51,15 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation ( {
     # Look in C_INCLUDE_PATH and LIBRARY_PATH for stuff.
     ./search-path.patch
   ];
-  
+
   inherit buildInputs;
   C_INCLUDE_PATH = concatStringsSep ":" (map (p: "${p}/include") buildInputs);
   LIBRARY_PATH = concatStringsSep ":" (map (p: "${p}/lib") buildInputs);
   configureFlags = "--enable-shared --with-wctype-functions";
-  
+
   preConfigure = ''
     # Purity.
-    for i in /usr /sw /opt /pkg; do 
+    for i in /usr /sw /opt /pkg; do
       substituteInPlace ./setup.py --replace $i /no-such-path
     done
   '' + (if readline != null then ''
@@ -65,7 +67,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation ( {
   '' else "");
 
   setupHook = ./setup-hook.sh;
-  
+
   postInstall = ''
     rm -rf $out/lib/python2.5/test
   '';
diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.6/default.nix b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.6/default.nix
index 3fd035b09bb..53428de33f4 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.6/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.6/default.nix
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ in
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation ( {
   name = "python-${version}";
+  inherit majorVersion version;
 
   src = fetchurl {
     url = "http://www.python.org/ftp/python/${version}/Python-${version}.tar.bz2";
diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.7/default.nix b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.7/default.nix
index 44579dd717f..1b828cd5160 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.7/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.7/default.nix
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ in
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation ( {
   name = "python-${version}";
+  inherit majorVersion version;
 
   src = fetchurl {
     url = "http://www.python.org/ftp/python/${version}/Python-${version}.tar.bz2";
diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/3.1/default.nix b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/3.1/default.nix
index 963a4aec26c..6cfafe2c899 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/3.1/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/3.1/default.nix
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ in
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation ( {
   name = "python3-${version}";
+  inherit majorVersion version;
 
   src = fetchurl {
     url = "http://www.python.org/ftp/python/${version}/Python-${version}.tar.bz2";
diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/wrapper.nix b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/wrapper.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9002fc0ea1a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/wrapper.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+{stdenv, python, makeWrapper, extraLibs ? []}:
+
+stdenv.mkDerivation {
+  name = "python-${python.version}-wrapper";
+
+  propagatedBuildInputs = [python makeWrapper] ++ extraLibs;
+
+  unpackPhase = "true";
+  installPhase = ''
+    ensureDir "$out/bin"
+    declare -p
+    for prg in 2to3 idle pydoc python python-config python${python.majorVersion} python${python.majorVersion}-config smtpd.py; do
+      makeWrapper "$python/bin/$prg" "$out/bin/$prg" --set PYTHONPATH "$PYTHONPATH"
+    done
+  '';
+
+  inherit python;
+  inherit (python) meta;
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 9f95fae2dd4..895d321af79 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -2081,6 +2081,8 @@ let
   pythonBase = python26Base;
   pythonFull = python26Full;
 
+  pythonWrapper = callPackage ../development/interpreters/python/wrapper.nix { };
+
   python24 = callPackage ../development/interpreters/python/2.4 { };
 
   python25Base = makeOverridable (import ../development/interpreters/python/2.5) {