diff --git a/lib/customisation.nix b/lib/customisation.nix
index 585495469b2..efe82d78660 100644
--- a/lib/customisation.nix
+++ b/lib/customisation.nix
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ rec {
         };
 
       outputsList = map outputToAttrListElement outputs;
-  in commonAttrs.${drv.outputName};
+  in commonAttrs // { outputUnspecified = true; };
 
 
   /* Strip a derivation of all non-essential attributes, returning
diff --git a/nixos/modules/config/debug-info.nix b/nixos/modules/config/debug-info.nix
index a096a9809ce..777ae71eebf 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/config/debug-info.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/config/debug-info.nix
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ with lib;
     # environment.pathsToLink, and we can't have both.
     #environment.pathsToLink = [ "/lib/debug/.build-id" ];
 
-    environment.outputsToLink =
+    environment.extraOutputsToLink =
       optional config.environment.enableDebugInfo "debug";
 
   };
diff --git a/nixos/modules/config/system-path.nix b/nixos/modules/config/system-path.nix
index 3df7d7cdac4..eb5eba7a042 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/config/system-path.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/config/system-path.nix
@@ -73,11 +73,11 @@ in
         description = "List of directories to be symlinked in <filename>/run/current-system/sw</filename>.";
       };
 
-      outputsToLink = mkOption {
+      extraOutputsToLink = mkOption {
         type = types.listOf types.str;
         default = [ ];
-        example = [ "doc" ];
-        description = "List of package outputs to be symlinked into <filename>/run/current-system/sw</filename>.";
+        example = [ "doc" "info" "docdev" ];
+        description = "List of additional package outputs to be symlinked into <filename>/run/current-system/sw</filename>.";
       };
 
     };
@@ -120,18 +120,17 @@ in
         "/share/vim-plugins"
       ];
 
-    environment.outputsToLink = [ "bin" "lib" "out" ];
-
     system.path = pkgs.buildEnv {
       name = "system-path";
       paths =
-        lib.filter (drv: drv != null && drv != (drv.dev or null))
-          (lib.concatMap (drv:
-            [ drv ] ++ map (outputName: drv.${outputName}.outPath or null) config.environment.outputsToLink)
-           config.environment.systemPackages);
-      inherit (config.environment) pathsToLink;
+        # The default output probably shouldn't be globally configurable.
+        # Services and users should specify them explicitly unless they want this default.
+        map (p: if p.outputUnspecified or false then p.bin or p.out or p else p)
+          config.environment.systemPackages;
+      inherit (config.environment) pathsToLink extraOutputsToLink;
       ignoreCollisions = true;
       # !!! Hacky, should modularise.
+      # outputs TODO: note that the tools will often not be linked by default
       postBuild =
         ''
           if [ -x $out/bin/update-mime-database -a -w $out/share/mime ]; then
diff --git a/nixos/modules/programs/man.nix b/nixos/modules/programs/man.nix
index b2850653804..94d026fdaef 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/programs/man.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/programs/man.nix
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ with lib;
 
     environment.pathsToLink = [ "/share/man" ];
 
-    environment.outputsToLink = [ "man" ];
+    environment.extraOutputsToLink = [ "man" ];
 
   };
 
diff --git a/nixos/modules/security/polkit.nix b/nixos/modules/security/polkit.nix
index 70e5e8b9fa7..507f81bbf07 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/security/polkit.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/security/polkit.nix
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ in
 
   config = mkIf cfg.enable {
 
-    environment.systemPackages = [ pkgs.polkit ];
+    environment.systemPackages = [ pkgs.polkit.bin pkgs.polkit.out ];
 
     systemd.packages = [ pkgs.polkit.out ];
 
diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/buildenv/default.nix b/pkgs/build-support/buildenv/default.nix
index 1a0726d1543..bcfa2dd1c5a 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/buildenv/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/buildenv/default.nix
@@ -21,6 +21,10 @@
   # directories in the list is not symlinked.
   pathsToLink ? ["/"]
 
+, # The package outputs to include. By default, only the default
+  # output is included.
+  extraOutputsToLink ? []
+
 , # Root the result in directory "$out${extraPrefix}", e.g. "/share".
   extraPrefix ? ""
 
@@ -37,7 +41,10 @@
 runCommand name
   rec { inherit manifest ignoreCollisions passthru meta pathsToLink extraPrefix postBuild buildInputs;
     pkgs = builtins.toJSON (map (drv: {
-      paths = [ drv ];
+      paths =
+        [ drv ]
+        ++ lib.filter (p: p!=null)
+          (builtins.map (outName: drv.${outName} or null) extraOutputsToLink);
       priority = drv.meta.priority or 5;
     }) paths);
     preferLocalBuild = true;