diff --git a/lib/generators.nix b/lib/generators.nix
index aab4498f9c6..14332981583 100644
--- a/lib/generators.nix
+++ b/lib/generators.nix
@@ -176,51 +176,51 @@ rec {
     else abort "toPretty: should never happen (v = ${v})";
 
   # PLIST handling
+  toPLIST = {}: v: let
+    pprExpr = ind: x: with builtins;
+      if isNull x then "" else
+      if isBool x then pprBool ind x else
+      if isInt x then pprInt ind x else
+      if isString x then pprStr ind x else
+      if isList x then pprList ind x else
+      if isAttrs x then pprAttrs ind x else
+      abort "pprExpr: should never happen (v = ${v})";
 
-  toPLIST = x: ''
+    pprLiteral = ind: x: ind + x;
+
+    pprBool = ind: x: pprLiteral ind  (if x then "<true/>" else "<false/>");
+    pprInt = ind: x: pprLiteral ind "<integer>${toString x}</integer>";
+    pprStr = ind: x: pprLiteral ind "<string>${x}</string>";
+    pprKey = ind: x: pprLiteral ind "<key>${x}</key>";
+
+    pprIndent = ind: pprExpr "\t${ind}";
+
+    pprItem = ind: libStr.concatMapStringsSep "\n" (pprIndent ind);
+
+    pprList = ind: x: libStr.concatStringsSep "\n" [
+      (pprLiteral ind "<array>")
+      (pprItem ind x)
+      (pprLiteral ind "</array>")
+    ];
+
+    pprAttrs = ind: x: libStr.concatStringsSep "\n" [
+      (pprLiteral ind "<dict>")
+      (pprAttr ind x)
+      (pprLiteral ind "</dict>")
+    ];
+
+    pprAttr = let attrFilter = name: value: name != "_module" && value != null;
+    in ind: x: libStr.concatStringsSep "\n" (lib.flatten (lib.mapAttrsToList
+      (name: value: lib.optional (attrFilter name value) [
+      (pprKey "\t${ind}" name)
+      (pprExpr "\t${ind}" value)
+    ]) x));
+
+  in ''
     <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
     <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
     <plist version="1.0">
-  '' + pprExpr "" x
-     + "\n</plist>";
-
-  pprExpr = ind: x: with builtins;
-    if isNull x then "" else
-    if isBool x then pprBool ind x else
-    if isInt x then pprInt ind x else
-    if isString x then pprStr ind x else
-    if isList x then pprList ind x else
-    if isAttrs x then pprAttrs ind x else
-    throw "invalid plist type";
-
-  pprLiteral = ind: x: ind + x;
-
-  pprBool = ind: x: pprLiteral ind  (if x then "<true/>" else "<false/>");
-  pprInt = ind: x: pprLiteral ind "<integer>${toString x}</integer>";
-  pprStr = ind: x: pprLiteral ind "<string>${x}</string>";
-  pprKey = ind: x: pprLiteral ind "<key>${x}</key>";
-
-  pprIndent = ind: pprExpr "\t${ind}";
-
-  pprItem = ind: libStr.concatMapStringsSep "\n" (pprIndent ind);
-
-  pprList = ind: x: libStr.concatStringsSep "\n" [
-    (pprLiteral ind "<array>")
-    (pprItem ind x)
-    (pprLiteral ind "</array>")
-  ];
-
-  pprAttrs = ind: x: libStr.concatStringsSep "\n" [
-    (pprLiteral ind "<dict>")
-    (pprAttr ind x)
-    (pprLiteral ind "</dict>")
-  ];
-
-  attrFilter = name: value: name != "_module" && value != null;
-
-  pprAttr = ind: x: libStr.concatStringsSep "\n" (lib.flatten (lib.mapAttrsToList (name: value: lib.optional (attrFilter name value) [
-    (pprKey "\t${ind}" name)
-    (pprExpr "\t${ind}" value)
-  ]) x));
+  ${pprExpr "" v}
+    </plist>'';
 
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/xcbuild/platform.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/xcbuild/platform.nix
index e3fb83edc67..502c3bcdbc8 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/xcbuild/platform.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/xcbuild/platform.nix
@@ -286,11 +286,11 @@ let
 in
 
 runCommand "MacOSX.platform" {} ''
-  install -D ${writeText "Info.plist" (toPLIST Info)} $out/Info.plist
-  install -D ${writeText "version.plist" (toPLIST Version)} $out/version.plist
-  install -D ${writeText "Architectures.xcspec" (toPLIST Architectures)} $out/Developer/Library/Xcode/Specifications/Architectures.xcspec
-  install -D ${writeText "PackageTypes.xcspec" (toPLIST PackageTypes)} $out/Developer/Library/Xcode/Specifications/PackageTypes.xcspec
-  install -D ${writeText "ProductTypes.xcspec" (toPLIST ProductTypes)} $out/Developer/Library/Xcode/Specifications/ProductTypes.xcspec
+  install -D ${writeText "Info.plist" (toPLIST {} Info)} $out/Info.plist
+  install -D ${writeText "version.plist" (toPLIST {} Version)} $out/version.plist
+  install -D ${writeText "Architectures.xcspec" (toPLIST {} Architectures)} $out/Developer/Library/Xcode/Specifications/Architectures.xcspec
+  install -D ${writeText "PackageTypes.xcspec" (toPLIST {} PackageTypes)} $out/Developer/Library/Xcode/Specifications/PackageTypes.xcspec
+  install -D ${writeText "ProductTypes.xcspec" (toPLIST {} ProductTypes)} $out/Developer/Library/Xcode/Specifications/ProductTypes.xcspec
 
   mkdir -p $out/Developer/SDKs/
   cd $out/Developer/SDKs/
diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/xcbuild/sdk.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/xcbuild/sdk.nix
index 2d43347da03..5fdfe587722 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/xcbuild/sdk.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/xcbuild/sdk.nix
@@ -24,6 +24,6 @@ in
 runCommand "MacOSX${version}.sdk" {
   inherit version;
 } ''
-  install -D ${writeText "SDKSettings.plist" (toPLIST SDKSettings)} $out/SDKSettings.plist
-  install -D ${writeText "SystemVersion.plist" (toPLIST SystemVersion)} $out/System/Library/CoreServices/SystemVersion.plist
+  install -D ${writeText "SDKSettings.plist" (toPLIST {} SDKSettings)} $out/SDKSettings.plist
+  install -D ${writeText "SystemVersion.plist" (toPLIST {} SystemVersion)} $out/System/Library/CoreServices/SystemVersion.plist
 ''
diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/xcbuild/toolchain.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/xcbuild/toolchain.nix
index d8c80b53831..ed5730abddf 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/xcbuild/toolchain.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/xcbuild/toolchain.nix
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ runCommand "nixpkgs.xctoolchain" {
   nativeBuildInputs = [ makeWrapper ];
 } (''
   mkdir -p $out
-  install -D ${writeText "ToolchainInfo.plist" (toPLIST ToolchainInfo)} $out/ToolchainInfo.plist
+  install -D ${writeText "ToolchainInfo.plist" (toPLIST {} ToolchainInfo)} $out/ToolchainInfo.plist
 
   mkdir -p $out/usr/include
   mkdir -p $out/usr/lib