diff --git a/artiq/default.nix b/artiq/default.nix
index 51a4989..6db93a8 100644
--- a/artiq/default.nix
+++ b/artiq/default.nix
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ let
         };
       }) {} boards;
   manualPackages = import ./pkgs/artiq-manual.nix {
-    inherit stdenv lib fetchgit python3Packages texlive texinfo;
+    inherit stdenv lib fetchgit git python3Packages texlive texinfo;
     inherit (pythonDeps) sphinxcontrib-wavedrom;
   };
   mainPackages = rec {
diff --git a/artiq/pkgs/artiq-manual.nix b/artiq/pkgs/artiq-manual.nix
index dafb9be..0cb791b 100644
--- a/artiq/pkgs/artiq-manual.nix
+++ b/artiq/pkgs/artiq-manual.nix
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
-{ stdenv, lib, fetchgit, python3Packages, texlive, texinfo, sphinxcontrib-wavedrom }:
+{ stdenv, lib, fetchgit, git, python3Packages, texlive, texinfo, sphinxcontrib-wavedrom }:
 
 let
-  artiqVersion = import ./artiq-version.nix;
+  artiqVersion = import ./artiq-version.nix { inherit stdenv fetchgit git; };
 
   isLatexPdfTarget = target: builtins.match "latexpdf.*" target != null;
 
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ let
 
     preBuild = ''
         export VERSIONEER_OVERRIDE=${artiqVersion}
-        export SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH=${import ./artiq-timestamp.nix}
+        export SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH=${import ./artiq-timestamp.nix { inherit stdenv fetchgit git; }}
         cd doc/manual
       '';
     makeFlags = [ target ];
diff --git a/artiq/pkgs/artiq-timestamp.nix b/artiq/pkgs/artiq-timestamp.nix
index 112b6cc..f1669c2 100644
--- a/artiq/pkgs/artiq-timestamp.nix
+++ b/artiq/pkgs/artiq-timestamp.nix
@@ -1,16 +1,13 @@
-let pkgs = import <nixpkgs> {};
-in
-with pkgs;
+{ stdenv, git, fetchgit }:
 let
   artiq-timestamp = stdenv.mkDerivation {
     name = "artiq-timestamp";
     src = import ./artiq-src.nix { inherit fetchgit; };
-    buildInputs = [ git ];
     buildPhase = ''
       TIMESTAMP=`${git}/bin/git log -1 --format=%ct`
     '';
     installPhase = ''
-      echo \"$TIMESTAMP\" > $out
+      echo -n $TIMESTAMP > $out
     '';
   };
 in
diff --git a/artiq/pkgs/artiq-version.nix b/artiq/pkgs/artiq-version.nix
index b6607a6..00eaada 100644
--- a/artiq/pkgs/artiq-version.nix
+++ b/artiq/pkgs/artiq-version.nix
@@ -1 +1,14 @@
-"5e.localdev"
+{ stdenv, git, fetchgit }:
+let
+  artiq-version = stdenv.mkDerivation {
+    name = "artiq-version";
+    src = import ./artiq-src.nix { inherit fetchgit; };
+    buildPhase = ''
+      REV=`${git}/bin/git rev-parse HEAD`
+    '';
+    installPhase = ''
+      echo -n 5e.`cut -c1-8 <<< $REV` > $out
+    '';
+  };
+in
+  builtins.readFile artiq-version
diff --git a/artiq/pkgs/artiq.nix b/artiq/pkgs/artiq.nix
index 7c9d4fa..5e2892d 100644
--- a/artiq/pkgs/artiq.nix
+++ b/artiq/pkgs/artiq.nix
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
-{ stdenv, callPackage, fetchgit, python3Packages, qt5Full, binutils-or1k, llvm-or1k, llvmlite-artiq, libartiq-support, lit, outputcheck }:
+{ stdenv, callPackage, fetchgit, git, python3Packages, qt5Full, binutils-or1k, llvm-or1k, llvmlite-artiq, libartiq-support, lit, outputcheck }:
 
 let
   pythonDeps = callPackage ./python-deps.nix {};
 in
   python3Packages.buildPythonPackage rec {
     name = "artiq-${version}";
-    version = import ./artiq-version.nix;
+    version = import ./artiq-version.nix { inherit stdenv fetchgit git; };
     src = import ./artiq-src.nix { inherit fetchgit; };
     preBuild = "export VERSIONEER_OVERRIDE=${version}";
     propagatedBuildInputs = [ binutils-or1k llvm-or1k llvmlite-artiq qt5Full ]
diff --git a/artiq/pkgs/libartiq-support.nix b/artiq/pkgs/libartiq-support.nix
index 3f4a7a0..7041aed 100644
--- a/artiq/pkgs/libartiq-support.nix
+++ b/artiq/pkgs/libartiq-support.nix
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
-{ stdenv, fetchgit, rustc }:
+{ stdenv, fetchgit, git, rustc }:
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   name = "libartiq-support-${version}";
-  version = import ./artiq-version.nix;
+  version = import ./artiq-version.nix { inherit stdenv fetchgit git; };
   src = import ./artiq-src.nix { inherit fetchgit; };
   phases = [ "buildPhase" ];
   # keep in sync with artiq/test/lit/lit.cfg or remove build from the latter once we don't use buildbot/conda anymore
diff --git a/main.nix b/main.nix
index 2370c43..fc99211 100644
--- a/main.nix
+++ b/main.nix
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@ let
       sha256 = "$HASH";
     }
     EOF
-    echo \"5e.`cut -c1-8 <<< $REV`\" > $out/pkgs/artiq-version.nix
-    echo \"$TIMESTAMP\" > $out/pkgs/artiq-timestamp.nix
+    echo "{ stdenv, git, fetchgit }: \"5e.`cut -c1-8 <<< $REV`\"" > $out/pkgs/artiq-version.nix
+    echo "{ stdenv, git, fetchgit }: \"$TIMESTAMP\"" > $out/pkgs/artiq-timestamp.nix
     '';
   generateTestOkHash = pkgs.runCommand "generate-test-ok-hash" { buildInputs = [ pkgs.nix ]; }
     ''