diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/rust/build-rust-crate/build-crate.nix b/pkgs/build-support/rust/build-rust-crate/build-crate.nix
index be678ce927b..067a044eee5 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/rust/build-rust-crate/build-crate.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/rust/build-rust-crate/build-crate.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ lib, stdenv, echo_build_heading, noisily, makeDeps, rust }:
+{ lib, stdenv, echo_build_heading, noisily, mkRustcDepArgs, rust }:
 { crateName,
   dependencies,
   crateFeatures, crateRenames, libName, release, libPath,
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 
   let
 
-    deps = makeDeps dependencies crateRenames;
+    deps = mkRustcDepArgs dependencies crateRenames;
     rustcOpts =
       lib.foldl' (opts: opt: opts + " " + opt)
         (if release then "-C opt-level=3" else "-C debuginfo=2")
diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/rust/build-rust-crate/configure-crate.nix b/pkgs/build-support/rust/build-rust-crate/configure-crate.nix
index fe0cc7d54e4..efc538f0fd6 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/rust/build-rust-crate/configure-crate.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/rust/build-rust-crate/configure-crate.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ lib, stdenv, echo_build_heading, noisily, makeDeps }:
+{ lib, stdenv, echo_build_heading, noisily, mkRustcDepArgs }:
 { build
 , buildDependencies
 , colors
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ let version_ = lib.splitString "-" crateVersion;
     rustcOpts = lib.foldl' (opts: opt: opts + " " + opt)
         (if release then "-C opt-level=3" else "-C debuginfo=2")
         (["-C codegen-units=$NIX_BUILD_CORES"] ++ extraRustcOpts);
-    buildDeps = makeDeps buildDependencies crateRenames;
+    buildDeps = mkRustcDepArgs buildDependencies crateRenames;
     authors = lib.concatStringsSep ":" crateAuthors;
     optLevel = if release then 3 else 0;
     completeDepsDir = lib.concatStringsSep " " completeDeps;
diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/rust/build-rust-crate/default.nix b/pkgs/build-support/rust/build-rust-crate/default.nix
index 7cd99324dbc..fc43d78650a 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/rust/build-rust-crate/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/rust/build-rust-crate/default.nix
@@ -13,7 +13,9 @@ let
       then "macos"
       else stdenv.hostPlatform.parsed.kernel.name;
 
-    makeDeps = dependencies: crateRenames:
+    # Create rustc arguments to link against the given list of dependencies and
+    # renames
+    mkRustcDepArgs = dependencies: crateRenames:
       lib.concatMapStringsSep " " (dep:
         let
           extern = lib.replaceStrings ["-"] ["_"] dep.libName;
@@ -27,15 +29,14 @@ let
            " --extern ${name}=${dep.lib}/lib/lib${extern}-${dep.metadata}${stdenv.hostPlatform.extensions.sharedLibrary}")
       ) dependencies;
 
-
    inherit (import ./log.nix { inherit lib; }) noisily echo_build_heading;
 
    configureCrate = import ./configure-crate.nix {
-     inherit lib stdenv echo_build_heading noisily makeDeps;
+     inherit lib stdenv echo_build_heading noisily mkRustcDepArgs;
    };
 
    buildCrate = import ./build-crate.nix {
-     inherit lib stdenv echo_build_heading noisily makeDeps rust;
+     inherit lib stdenv echo_build_heading noisily mkRustcDepArgs rust;
    };
 
    installCrate = import ./install-crate.nix;