diff --git a/pkgs/system/all-packages-generic.nix b/pkgs/system/all-packages-generic.nix
index d45f65bf1d6..f114789c6bc 100644
--- a/pkgs/system/all-packages-generic.nix
+++ b/pkgs/system/all-packages-generic.nix
@@ -138,6 +138,10 @@ rec {
     inherit fetchurl stdenv ncurses;
   };
 
+  xsel = (import ../tools/misc/xsel) {
+    inherit fetchurl stdenv x11;
+  };
+
   openssh = (import ../tools/networking/openssh) {
     inherit fetchurl stdenv zlib openssl;
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/system/populate-cache.nix b/pkgs/system/populate-cache.nix
index e3fe00fa48a..b37755ace9e 100644
--- a/pkgs/system/populate-cache.nix
+++ b/pkgs/system/populate-cache.nix
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ let {
     vim
     less
     screen
+    xsel
     openssl
     mktemp
     strace