diff --git a/pkgs/stdenv/linux/default.nix b/pkgs/stdenv/linux/default.nix
index 6c369c65841a..c5b05a1f198e 100644
--- a/pkgs/stdenv/linux/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/stdenv/linux/default.nix
@@ -144,8 +144,8 @@ rec {
   # 2) These are the packages that we can build with the first
   #    stdenv.  We only need Glibc (in step 3).
   stdenvLinuxBoot1Pkgs = allPackages {
-    stdenv = stdenvLinuxBoot1;
-    bootCurl = curl;
+    bootStdenv = stdenvLinuxBoot1;
+#    bootCurl = curl;
   };
 
   # 3) Build Glibc with the statically linked tools.  The result is the
@@ -163,8 +163,8 @@ rec {
 
   # 5) The packages that can be built using the second stdenv.
   stdenvLinuxBoot2Pkgs = allPackages {
-    stdenv = stdenvLinuxBoot2;
-    bootCurl = curl;
+    bootStdenv = stdenvLinuxBoot2;
+#    bootCurl = curl;
   };
 
   # 6) Construct a third stdenv identical to the second, except that
@@ -178,8 +178,8 @@ rec {
 
   # 7) The packages that can be built using the third stdenv.
   stdenvLinuxBoot3Pkgs = allPackages {
-    stdenv = stdenvLinuxBoot3;
-    bootCurl = curl;
+    bootStdenv = stdenvLinuxBoot3;
+#    bootCurl = curl;
   };
 
   # 8) Construct the final stdenv.  It uses the Glibc, GCC and
@@ -211,8 +211,8 @@ rec {
   #    Reuse the tools built in the previous steps.
   stdenvLinuxPkgs =
     allPackages {
-      stdenv = stdenvLinux;
-      bootCurl = stdenvLinuxBoot3Pkgs.curl;
+      bootStdenv = stdenvLinux;
+#      bootCurl = stdenvLinuxBoot3Pkgs.curl;
     } //
     {inherit (stdenvLinuxBoot2Pkgs) binutils gcc;} //
     {inherit (stdenvLinuxBoot3Pkgs)
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages-generic.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages-generic.nix
index fe11dd3d10b9..9b66aacdacc6 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages-generic.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages-generic.nix
@@ -1,17 +1,27 @@
-# This file evaluates to a function that, when supplied with a system
-# identifier and a standard build environment, returns the set of all
-# packages provided by the Nix Package Collection.
+/* This file composes the Nix Packages collection.  That is, it
+   imports the functions that build the various packages, and calls
+   them with appropriate arguments.  The result is a set of all the
+   packages in the Nix Packages collection for some particular
+   platform. */
+   
 
-{ stdenv, bootCurl, noSysDirs ? true
+{ # The system for which to build the packages.
+  system ? __currentSystem
+
+, # The standard environment to use.  Only used for bootstrapping.  If
+  # null, the default standard environment is used.
+  bootStdenv ? null
+
+  # More flags for the bootstrapping of stdenv.
+, noSysDirs ? true
 , gccWithCC ? true
 , gccWithProfiling ? true
+
 }:
 
+
 rec {
 
-  inherit stdenv;
-
-
   ### Symbolic names.
 
   useOldXLibs = false;
@@ -25,6 +35,19 @@ rec {
   # `xlibs.xlibs' is a wrapper packages that combines libX11 and a bunch
   # of other basic X client libraries.
   x11 = if useOldXLibs then xlibsOld.xlibs else xlibsWrapper;
+
+
+  ### STANDARD ENVIRONMENT
+
+  stdenv = if bootStdenv == null then defaultStdenv else bootStdenv;
+
+  defaultStdenv =
+    (import ./stdenvs.nix {
+      inherit system;
+      allPackages = import ./all-packages-generic.nix;
+    }).stdenv;
+
+  bootCurl = null;
   
 
   ### BUILD SUPPORT
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/stdenvs.nix b/pkgs/top-level/stdenvs.nix
index b96c3d17674c..fe25421b8044 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/stdenvs.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/stdenvs.nix
@@ -5,7 +5,9 @@
 # Posix utilities, the GNU C compiler, and so on.  On other systems,
 # we use the native C library.
 
-{system, allPackages}: rec {
+{system, allPackages}:
+
+rec {
 
   gccWrapper = import ../build-support/gcc-wrapper;
   genericStdenv = import ../stdenv/generic;
@@ -29,8 +31,7 @@
   };
 
   stdenvNativePkgs = allPackages {
-    stdenv = stdenvNative;
-    bootCurl = null;
+    bootStdenv = stdenvNative;
     noSysDirs = false;
   };
 
@@ -43,8 +44,7 @@
   };
 
   stdenvNixPkgs = allPackages {
-    stdenv = stdenvNix;
-    bootCurl = stdenvNativePkgs.curl;
+    bootStdenv = stdenvNix;
     noSysDirs = false;
   };
 
@@ -62,8 +62,7 @@
   };
 
   stdenvDarwinPkgs = allPackages {
-    stdenv = stdenvDarwin;
-    bootCurl = null;
+    bootStdenv = stdenvDarwin;
     noSysDirs = false;
   };
 
@@ -77,15 +76,15 @@
   };
 
   stdenvFreeBSDPkgs = allPackages {
-    stdenv = stdenvFreeBSD;
-    bootCurl = null;
+    bootStdenv = stdenvFreeBSD;
     noSysDirs = false;
   };
 
 
-  stdenvTestPkgs = allPackages {
-    stdenv = (import ../stdenv/nix-linux-static).stdenvInitial;
-    bootCurl = (import ../stdenv/nix-linux-static).curl;
-    noSysDirs = true;
-  };
+  # Select the appropriate stdenv for the platform `system'.
+  stdenv =
+    if system == "i686-linux" then stdenvLinux
+    else if system == "i686-freebsd" then stdenvFreeBSD
+    else if system == "powerpc-darwin" then stdenvDarwin
+    else stdenvNative;
 }