diff --git a/packaging/dependencies.nix b/packaging/dependencies.nix
index 909a0a38e..78a857d85 100644
--- a/packaging/dependencies.nix
+++ b/packaging/dependencies.nix
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ let
 in
 scope: {
   inherit stdenv versionSuffix;
+  version = lib.fileContents ../.version + versionSuffix;
 
   libseccomp = pkgs.libseccomp.overrideAttrs (_: rec {
     version = "2.5.5";
diff --git a/src/external-api-docs/package.nix b/src/external-api-docs/package.nix
index 7fd6a988a..da136bbe1 100644
--- a/src/external-api-docs/package.nix
+++ b/src/external-api-docs/package.nix
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 
 # Configuration Options
 
-, versionSuffix ? ""
+, version
 }:
 
 let
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ in
 
 mkMesonDerivation (finalAttrs: {
   pname = "nix-external-api-docs";
-  version = lib.fileContents ./.version + versionSuffix;
+  inherit version;
 
   workDir = ./.;
   fileset =
diff --git a/src/internal-api-docs/package.nix b/src/internal-api-docs/package.nix
index 44ddb00ab..f2077dcaf 100644
--- a/src/internal-api-docs/package.nix
+++ b/src/internal-api-docs/package.nix
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 
 # Configuration Options
 
-, versionSuffix ? ""
+, version
 }:
 
 let
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ in
 
 mkMesonDerivation (finalAttrs: {
   pname = "nix-internal-api-docs";
-  version = lib.fileContents ./.version + versionSuffix;
+  inherit version;
 
   workDir = ./.;
   fileset = let
diff --git a/src/libcmd/package.nix b/src/libcmd/package.nix
index 5e6381a17..ec3aa4660 100644
--- a/src/libcmd/package.nix
+++ b/src/libcmd/package.nix
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 
 # Configuration Options
 
-, versionSuffix ? ""
+, version
 
 # Whether to enable Markdown rendering in the Nix binary.
 , enableMarkdown ? !stdenv.hostPlatform.isWindows
@@ -36,8 +36,6 @@
 
 let
   inherit (lib) fileset;
-
-  version = lib.fileContents ./.version + versionSuffix;
 in
 
 mkMesonDerivation (finalAttrs: {
diff --git a/src/libexpr-c/package.nix b/src/libexpr-c/package.nix
index b445a8187..0b895437b 100644
--- a/src/libexpr-c/package.nix
+++ b/src/libexpr-c/package.nix
@@ -11,13 +11,11 @@
 
 # Configuration Options
 
-, versionSuffix ? ""
+, version
 }:
 
 let
   inherit (lib) fileset;
-
-  version = lib.fileContents ./.version + versionSuffix;
 in
 
 mkMesonDerivation (finalAttrs: {
diff --git a/src/libexpr/package.nix b/src/libexpr/package.nix
index d4296bc07..704456c96 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/package.nix
+++ b/src/libexpr/package.nix
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 
 # Configuration Options
 
-, versionSuffix ? ""
+, version
 
 # Whether to use garbage collection for the Nix language evaluator.
 #
@@ -36,8 +36,6 @@
 
 let
   inherit (lib) fileset;
-
-  version = lib.fileContents ./.version + versionSuffix;
 in
 
 mkMesonDerivation (finalAttrs: {
diff --git a/src/libfetchers/package.nix b/src/libfetchers/package.nix
index 7786a4f35..b4abb144b 100644
--- a/src/libfetchers/package.nix
+++ b/src/libfetchers/package.nix
@@ -15,13 +15,11 @@
 
 # Configuration Options
 
-, versionSuffix ? ""
+, version
 }:
 
 let
   inherit (lib) fileset;
-
-  version = lib.fileContents ./.version + versionSuffix;
 in
 
 mkMesonDerivation (finalAttrs: {
diff --git a/src/libflake/package.nix b/src/libflake/package.nix
index f0609d5d5..af6f5da94 100644
--- a/src/libflake/package.nix
+++ b/src/libflake/package.nix
@@ -17,13 +17,11 @@
 
 # Configuration Options
 
-, versionSuffix ? ""
+, version
 }:
 
 let
   inherit (lib) fileset;
-
-  version = lib.fileContents ./.version + versionSuffix;
 in
 
 mkMesonDerivation (finalAttrs: {
diff --git a/src/libmain/package.nix b/src/libmain/package.nix
index f6c92bac6..bbd97ec3e 100644
--- a/src/libmain/package.nix
+++ b/src/libmain/package.nix
@@ -14,13 +14,11 @@
 
 # Configuration Options
 
-, versionSuffix ? ""
+, version
 }:
 
 let
   inherit (lib) fileset;
-
-  version = lib.fileContents ./.version + versionSuffix;
 in
 
 mkMesonDerivation (finalAttrs: {
diff --git a/src/libstore-c/package.nix b/src/libstore-c/package.nix
index c14cf955d..fc34c1bda 100644
--- a/src/libstore-c/package.nix
+++ b/src/libstore-c/package.nix
@@ -12,13 +12,11 @@
 
 # Configuration Options
 
-, versionSuffix ? ""
+, version
 }:
 
 let
   inherit (lib) fileset;
-
-  version = lib.fileContents ./.version + versionSuffix;
 in
 
 mkMesonDerivation (finalAttrs: {
diff --git a/src/libstore/package.nix b/src/libstore/package.nix
index df92b5b28..0a2ace91e 100644
--- a/src/libstore/package.nix
+++ b/src/libstore/package.nix
@@ -20,15 +20,13 @@
 
 # Configuration Options
 
-, versionSuffix ? ""
+, version
 
 , embeddedSandboxShell ? stdenv.hostPlatform.isStatic
 }:
 
 let
   inherit (lib) fileset;
-
-  version = lib.fileContents ./.version + versionSuffix;
 in
 
 mkMesonDerivation (finalAttrs: {
diff --git a/src/libutil-c/package.nix b/src/libutil-c/package.nix
index f92cb036c..53451998d 100644
--- a/src/libutil-c/package.nix
+++ b/src/libutil-c/package.nix
@@ -11,13 +11,11 @@
 
 # Configuration Options
 
-, versionSuffix ? ""
+, version
 }:
 
 let
   inherit (lib) fileset;
-
-  version = lib.fileContents ./.version + versionSuffix;
 in
 
 mkMesonDerivation (finalAttrs: {
diff --git a/src/libutil/package.nix b/src/libutil/package.nix
index 74d4d7853..28d7d8f0e 100644
--- a/src/libutil/package.nix
+++ b/src/libutil/package.nix
@@ -17,13 +17,11 @@
 
 # Configuration Options
 
-, versionSuffix ? ""
+, version
 }:
 
 let
   inherit (lib) fileset;
-
-  version = lib.fileContents ./.version + versionSuffix;
 in
 
 mkMesonDerivation (finalAttrs: {
diff --git a/src/perl/package.nix b/src/perl/package.nix
index 08ceaa33e..26856e631 100644
--- a/src/perl/package.nix
+++ b/src/perl/package.nix
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 , pkg-config
 , nix-store
 , darwin
-, versionSuffix ? ""
+, version
 , curl
 , bzip2
 , libsodium
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ in
 
 perl.pkgs.toPerlModule (mkMesonDerivation (finalAttrs: {
   pname = "nix-perl";
-  version = lib.fileContents ./.version + versionSuffix;
+  inherit version;
 
   workDir = ./.;
   fileset = fileset.unions ([
diff --git a/tests/unit/libexpr-support/package.nix b/tests/unit/libexpr-support/package.nix
index f32cf2615..0c966c55a 100644
--- a/tests/unit/libexpr-support/package.nix
+++ b/tests/unit/libexpr-support/package.nix
@@ -14,13 +14,11 @@
 
 # Configuration Options
 
-, versionSuffix ? ""
+, version
 }:
 
 let
   inherit (lib) fileset;
-
-  version = lib.fileContents ./.version + versionSuffix;
 in
 
 mkMesonDerivation (finalAttrs: {
diff --git a/tests/unit/libexpr/package.nix b/tests/unit/libexpr/package.nix
index 1667dc77e..6394b595d 100644
--- a/tests/unit/libexpr/package.nix
+++ b/tests/unit/libexpr/package.nix
@@ -17,13 +17,11 @@
 
 # Configuration Options
 
-, versionSuffix ? ""
+, version
 }:
 
 let
   inherit (lib) fileset;
-
-  version = lib.fileContents ./.version + versionSuffix;
 in
 
 mkMesonDerivation (finalAttrs: {
diff --git a/tests/unit/libfetchers/package.nix b/tests/unit/libfetchers/package.nix
index e9daacaeb..563481cc5 100644
--- a/tests/unit/libfetchers/package.nix
+++ b/tests/unit/libfetchers/package.nix
@@ -16,13 +16,11 @@
 
 # Configuration Options
 
-, versionSuffix ? ""
+, version
 }:
 
 let
   inherit (lib) fileset;
-
-  version = lib.fileContents ./.version + versionSuffix;
 in
 
 mkMesonDerivation (finalAttrs: {
diff --git a/tests/unit/libflake/package.nix b/tests/unit/libflake/package.nix
index c2bcc8eb8..15bf44907 100644
--- a/tests/unit/libflake/package.nix
+++ b/tests/unit/libflake/package.nix
@@ -16,13 +16,11 @@
 
 # Configuration Options
 
-, versionSuffix ? ""
+, version
 }:
 
 let
   inherit (lib) fileset;
-
-  version = lib.fileContents ./.version + versionSuffix;
 in
 
 mkMesonDerivation (finalAttrs: {
diff --git a/tests/unit/libstore-support/package.nix b/tests/unit/libstore-support/package.nix
index f3a5bfc82..cb15cdd5f 100644
--- a/tests/unit/libstore-support/package.nix
+++ b/tests/unit/libstore-support/package.nix
@@ -14,13 +14,11 @@
 
 # Configuration Options
 
-, versionSuffix ? ""
+, version
 }:
 
 let
   inherit (lib) fileset;
-
-  version = lib.fileContents ./.version + versionSuffix;
 in
 
 mkMesonDerivation (finalAttrs: {
diff --git a/tests/unit/libstore/package.nix b/tests/unit/libstore/package.nix
index 663e8ba43..2de8af103 100644
--- a/tests/unit/libstore/package.nix
+++ b/tests/unit/libstore/package.nix
@@ -18,13 +18,11 @@
 
 # Configuration Options
 
-, versionSuffix ? ""
+, version
 }:
 
 let
   inherit (lib) fileset;
-
-  version = lib.fileContents ./.version + versionSuffix;
 in
 
 mkMesonDerivation (finalAttrs: {
diff --git a/tests/unit/libutil-support/package.nix b/tests/unit/libutil-support/package.nix
index 431fe91c6..fdecdec72 100644
--- a/tests/unit/libutil-support/package.nix
+++ b/tests/unit/libutil-support/package.nix
@@ -13,13 +13,11 @@
 
 # Configuration Options
 
-, versionSuffix ? ""
+, version
 }:
 
 let
   inherit (lib) fileset;
-
-  version = lib.fileContents ./.version + versionSuffix;
 in
 
 mkMesonDerivation (finalAttrs: {
diff --git a/tests/unit/libutil/package.nix b/tests/unit/libutil/package.nix
index 6bfa571d8..ad5ff7d1e 100644
--- a/tests/unit/libutil/package.nix
+++ b/tests/unit/libutil/package.nix
@@ -17,13 +17,11 @@
 
 # Configuration Options
 
-, versionSuffix ? ""
+, version
 }:
 
 let
   inherit (lib) fileset;
-
-  version = lib.fileContents ./.version + versionSuffix;
 in
 
 mkMesonDerivation (finalAttrs: {