diff --git a/artiq-fast/windows/binutils-hack-libiconv.patch b/artiq-fast/conda-windows/binutils-hack-libiconv.patch
similarity index 100%
rename from artiq-fast/windows/binutils-hack-libiconv.patch
rename to artiq-fast/conda-windows/binutils-hack-libiconv.patch
diff --git a/artiq-fast/conda-windows/binutils-recipe/bld.bat b/artiq-fast/conda-windows/binutils-recipe/bld.bat
index 90e4ff0..fa5fe84 100644
--- a/artiq-fast/conda-windows/binutils-recipe/bld.bat
+++ b/artiq-fast/conda-windows/binutils-recipe/bld.bat
@@ -1,7 +1,21 @@
 set MSYS=C:\MSYS64
+set TRIPLE=x86_64-pc-mingw64
 set PATH=%MSYS%\usr\bin;%MSYS%\mingw64\bin;%PATH%
 
-cd %PREFIX%
-tar xjf /c/Users/wfvm/src.tar.bz2
-dir C:\Users\wfvm
-python C:\Users\wfvm\patch_prefix.py "##PREFIX##" %PREFIX%
+mkdir build
+cd build
+set CFLAGS=-I%PREFIX:\=/%/Library/include/
+set LDFLAGS=-L%PREFIX:\=/%/Library/lib/
+sh ../configure --build=%TRIPLE% ^
+  --prefix="%PREFIX:\=/%/Library" ^
+  --target=##TARGET##
+if errorlevel 1 exit 1
+
+make -j4
+if errorlevel 1 exit 1
+
+make install
+if errorlevel 1 exit 1
+
+rem this is a copy of prefixed executables
+rmdir /S /Q %PREFIX%\Library\##TARGET##
diff --git a/artiq-fast/conda-windows/binutils.nix b/artiq-fast/conda-windows/binutils.nix
index b58f9a4..6358ebe 100644
--- a/artiq-fast/conda-windows/binutils.nix
+++ b/artiq-fast/conda-windows/binutils.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ pkgs, version, target, windows-binutils }:
+{ pkgs, version, src, target }:
 
 let
   wfvm = import ../wfvm.nix { inherit pkgs; };
@@ -34,13 +34,11 @@ let
       cp --no-preserve=mode,ownership -R ${./binutils-recipe} binutils
       sed -i s/##TARGET##/${target}/g binutils/*
       sed -i s/##VERSION##/${version}/g binutils/*
-      sed -i 's!##PREFIX##!${windows-binutils.prefix}!g' binutils/*
       ${wfvm.utils.win-put}/bin/win-put binutils .
-      cp ${windows-binutils} src.tar.bz2
+      tar xjf ${src}
+      patch -d binutils-${version} -p1 < ${./binutils-hack-libiconv.patch}
+      tar cjf src.tar.bz2 binutils-${version}
       ${wfvm.utils.win-put}/bin/win-put src.tar.bz2 .
-      cp ${./patch_prefix.py} patch_prefix.py
-      ls -l patch_prefix.py
-      ${wfvm.utils.win-put}/bin/win-put patch_prefix.py .
 
       ${wfvm.utils.win-exec}/bin/win-exec ".\Anaconda3\scripts\activate && conda build --no-anaconda-upload --no-test -c file:///C:/users/wfvm/fake-channel --override-channels binutils"
 
diff --git a/artiq-fast/conda-windows/patch_prefix.py b/artiq-fast/conda-windows/patch_prefix.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 083d15c..0000000
--- a/artiq-fast/conda-windows/patch_prefix.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,35 +0,0 @@
-import os, sys, re
-
-OLD = sys.argv[1].encode('utf-8')
-NEW = sys.argv[2].encode('utf-8')
-
-if len(NEW) > len(OLD):
-    raise ValueError("Cannot new shorter than the replacement")
-new = NEW + b"\0" * (len(OLD) - len(NEW))
-
-def patch_file(path):
-    with open(path, "r+b") as f:
-        s = f.read()
-    occurrences = s.count(OLD)
-    s = s.replace(OLD, new)
-    if occurrences > 0:
-        print("{}: replaced {}, left {}".format(path, occurrences, s.count(OLD)))
-    with open(path, "w+b") as f:
-        f.write(s)
-
-for root, dirs, files in os.walk("."):
-    for filename in files:
-        path = "{}/{}".format(root, filename)
-        patch_file(path)
-
-def mangle_path(path):
-    path = re.sub(r"^/c/", "C:/", path)
-    return str(path)
-        
-OLD = mangle_path(sys.argv[1]).encode('utf-8')
-NEW = mangle_path(sys.argv[2]).encode('utf-8')
-        
-for root, dirs, files in os.walk("."):
-    for filename in files:
-        path = "{}/{}".format(root, filename)
-        patch_file(path)
diff --git a/artiq-fast/default.nix b/artiq-fast/default.nix
index d0705ae..0569314 100644
--- a/artiq-fast/default.nix
+++ b/artiq-fast/default.nix
@@ -124,17 +124,11 @@ let
   };
 
   condaWindowsExperimental = rec {
-    windows-binutils-or1k = import ./windows/binutils.nix {
+    conda-windows-binutils-or1k = import ./conda-windows/binutils.nix {
       inherit pkgs;
       inherit (mainPackages.binutils-or1k) version src;
       target = "or1k-linux";
     };
-    conda-windows-binutils-or1k = import ./conda-windows/binutils.nix {
-      inherit pkgs;
-      inherit (mainPackages.binutils-or1k) version;
-      target = "or1k-linux";
-      windows-binutils = windows-binutils-or1k;
-    };
     conda-windows-binutils-arm = import ./conda-windows/binutils.nix {
       inherit pkgs;
       inherit (mainPackages.binutils-or1k) version src;
diff --git a/artiq-fast/windows/binutils.nix b/artiq-fast/windows/binutils.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index 9d54653..0000000
--- a/artiq-fast/windows/binutils.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,45 +0,0 @@
-{ pkgs, version, src, target }:
-
-let
-  wfvm = import ../wfvm.nix { inherit pkgs; };
-  repeat = s:
-    let go = n:
-          if n > 0
-          then s + go (n - 1)
-          else "";
-    in go;
-  outName = "windows-binutils-${target}-${version}.tar.bz2";
-  # add padding for later PREFIX replacement in `conda build`
-  prefix = "/c/Users/wfvm/binutils_" + repeat "0" 80;
-  build = wfvm.utils.wfvm-run {
-    name = "build-binutils";
-    image = wfvm.makeWindowsImage { installCommands = with wfvm.layers; [ msys2 (msys2-packages (import ../conda-windows/msys_packages.nix { inherit pkgs; } )) ]; };
-    script = ''
-      tar xjf ${src}
-      patch -d binutils-${version} -p1 < ${./binutils-hack-libiconv.patch}
-      tar cjf src.tar.bz2 binutils-${version}
-      ${wfvm.utils.win-put}/bin/win-put src.tar.bz2 .
-
-      cat > build-binutils.bat << EOF
-      set MSYS=c:\msys64
-      set PATH=%MSYS%\usr\bin;%MSYS%\mingw64\bin;%PATH%
-      tar xjf src.tar.bz2
-      bash -c "cd binutils-${version} && ./configure --build=x86_64-w64-mingw32 --prefix=${prefix}/Library --target=${target} && make -j$NIX_BUILD_CORES && make install"
-      rm -r ${prefix}/Library/or1k-linux
-      cp %MSYS%/mingw64/bin/libiconv-2.dll ${prefix}/Library/bin/
-      tar cjf ${outName} -C ${prefix} .
-      EOF
-      ${wfvm.utils.win-put}/bin/win-put build-binutils.bat .
-      ${wfvm.utils.win-exec}/bin/win-exec build-binutils
-
-      ${wfvm.utils.win-get}/bin/win-get ${outName}
-    '';
-  };
-in
-pkgs.runCommand outName {
-  buildInputs = [ build ];
-  passthru = { inherit prefix; };
-} ''
-    wfvm-run-build-binutils
-    cp ${outName} $out
-  ''