diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/bbdb/builder.sh b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/bbdb/builder.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index b860adbb745..00000000000
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/bbdb/builder.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
-source "$stdenv/setup" || exit 1
-
-unpackPhase &&							\
-cd bbdb-*.* && patchPhase &&					\
-./configure --prefix="$out"					\
-            --with-package-dir="$out/share/emacs/site-lisp" &&	\
-make && make install-pkg &&					\
-mkdir -p "$out/info" &&						\
-make -C texinfo install-pkg &&					\
-mv "$out/share/emacs/site-lisp/lisp/bbdb/"*			\
-   "$out/share/emacs/site-lisp" &&				\
-rm -rf "$out/share/emacs/site-lisp/lisp"
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/bbdb/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/bbdb/default.nix
index 51474a19717..52afebc6297 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/bbdb/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/bbdb/default.nix
@@ -11,7 +11,20 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   patches = [ ./install-infodir.patch ];
 
   buildInputs = [emacs texinfo ctags];
-  builder = ./builder.sh;
+  configureFlags = "--with-package-dir=$$out/share/emacs/site-lisp";
+  preInstall = "ensureDir $out/info";
+  installTargets = "install-pkg texinfo";
+  postInstall = ''
+    mv  $out/info $out/share/
+    mv "$out/share/emacs/site-lisp/lisp/bbdb/"* $out/share/emacs/site-lisp/
+    mv $out/share/emacs/site-lisp/etc/bbdb $out/share/
+    rm -rf $out/share/emacs/site-lisp/{lisp,etc}
+    mv bits $out/share/bbdb/
+    # Make optional modules from bbdb available for import, but symlink
+    # them into the site-lisp directory to make it obvious that they are
+    # not a genuine part of the distribution.
+    ln -s "$out/share/bbdb/bits/"*.el $out/share/emacs/site-lisp/
+  '';
 
   meta = {
     description = "The Insidious Big Brother Database (BBDB), a contact management utility for Emacs";