diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/xr/xrdb/package.nix b/pkgs/by-name/xr/xrdb/package.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..653849f1f157
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/xr/xrdb/package.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+{
+  lib,
+  stdenv,
+  fetchFromGitLab,
+  autoreconfHook,
+  pkg-config,
+  util-macros,
+  xorgproto,
+  libx11,
+  libxmu,
+  mcpp,
+  nix-update-script,
+}:
+stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
+  pname = "xrdb";
+  version = "1.2.2";
+
+  src = fetchFromGitLab {
+    domain = "gitlab.freedesktop.org";
+    group = "xorg";
+    owner = "app";
+    repo = "xrdb";
+    tag = "xrdb-${finalAttrs.version}";
+    hash = "sha256-XCi/E6tVaLYGRsMWJalCl1J8VIT4xV6KFuo+K//LQGY=";
+  };
+
+  strictDeps = true;
+
+  nativeBuildInputs = [
+    autoreconfHook
+    pkg-config
+    util-macros
+  ];
+
+  buildInputs = [
+    xorgproto
+    libx11
+    libxmu
+  ];
+
+  # replace gcc with mcpp as preprocessor to reduce the closure size
+  # see https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/9480
+  configureFlags = [ "--with-cpp=${lib.getExe mcpp}" ];
+
+  passthru.updateScript = nix-update-script { extraArgs = [ "--version-regex=xrdb-(.*)" ]; };
+
+  meta = {
+    description = "X resource database utility";
+    homepage = "https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/xorg/app/xrdb";
+    license = with lib.licenses; [
+      hpndDec
+      mitOpenGroup
+    ];
+    mainProgram = "xrdb";
+    maintainers = [ ];
+    platforms = lib.platforms.unix;
+  };
+})
diff --git a/pkgs/servers/x11/xorg/default.nix b/pkgs/servers/x11/xorg/default.nix
index 735eb8667b0e..4f983ac010d6 100644
--- a/pkgs/servers/x11/xorg/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/servers/x11/xorg/default.nix
@@ -147,6 +147,7 @@
   xorg-sgml-doctools,
   xprop,
   xrandr,
+  xrdb,
   xrefresh,
   xset,
   xsetroot,
@@ -220,6 +221,7 @@ self: with self; {
     xorgproto
     xprop
     xrandr
+    xrdb
     xrefresh
     xset
     xsetroot
@@ -2584,44 +2586,6 @@ self: with self; {
     })
   ) { };
 
-  # THIS IS A GENERATED FILE.  DO NOT EDIT!
-  xrdb = callPackage (
-    {
-      stdenv,
-      pkg-config,
-      fetchurl,
-      libX11,
-      libXmu,
-      xorgproto,
-      testers,
-    }:
-    stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
-      pname = "xrdb";
-      version = "1.2.2";
-      builder = ./builder.sh;
-      src = fetchurl {
-        url = "mirror://xorg/individual/app/xrdb-1.2.2.tar.xz";
-        sha256 = "1x1ka0zbcw66a06jvsy92bvnsj9vxbvnq1hbn1az4f0v4fmzrx9i";
-      };
-      hardeningDisable = [
-        "bindnow"
-        "relro"
-      ];
-      strictDeps = true;
-      nativeBuildInputs = [ pkg-config ];
-      buildInputs = [
-        libX11
-        libXmu
-        xorgproto
-      ];
-      passthru.tests.pkg-config = testers.testMetaPkgConfig finalAttrs.finalPackage;
-      meta = {
-        pkgConfigModules = [ ];
-        platforms = lib.platforms.unix;
-      };
-    })
-  ) { };
-
   # THIS IS A GENERATED FILE.  DO NOT EDIT!
   xtrap = callPackage (
     {
diff --git a/pkgs/servers/x11/xorg/generate-expr-from-tarballs.pl b/pkgs/servers/x11/xorg/generate-expr-from-tarballs.pl
index 56ec18bce9f0..e0eaa35c4ce5 100755
--- a/pkgs/servers/x11/xorg/generate-expr-from-tarballs.pl
+++ b/pkgs/servers/x11/xorg/generate-expr-from-tarballs.pl
@@ -478,6 +478,7 @@ print OUT <<EOF;
   xorg-sgml-doctools,
   xprop,
   xrandr,
+  xrdb,
   xrefresh,
   xset,
   xsetroot,
@@ -551,6 +552,7 @@ self: with self; {
     xorgproto
     xprop
     xrandr
+    xrdb
     xrefresh
     xset
     xsetroot
diff --git a/pkgs/servers/x11/xorg/overrides.nix b/pkgs/servers/x11/xorg/overrides.nix
index c8967f582180..76d0b9fccf9c 100644
--- a/pkgs/servers/x11/xorg/overrides.nix
+++ b/pkgs/servers/x11/xorg/overrides.nix
@@ -674,13 +674,6 @@ self: super:
 
   xpr = addMainProgram super.xpr { };
 
-  xrdb = super.xrdb.overrideAttrs (attrs: {
-    configureFlags = [ "--with-cpp=${mcpp}/bin/mcpp" ];
-    meta = attrs.meta // {
-      mainProgram = "xrdb";
-    };
-  });
-
   xwd = addMainProgram super.xwd { };
 }
 
diff --git a/pkgs/servers/x11/xorg/tarballs.list b/pkgs/servers/x11/xorg/tarballs.list
index aa63854c51c2..6477442a08e7 100644
--- a/pkgs/servers/x11/xorg/tarballs.list
+++ b/pkgs/servers/x11/xorg/tarballs.list
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ mirror://xorg/individual/app/xkbevd-1.1.6.tar.xz
 mirror://xorg/individual/app/xkbprint-1.0.7.tar.xz
 mirror://xorg/individual/app/xload-1.2.0.tar.xz
 mirror://xorg/individual/app/xpr-1.2.0.tar.xz
-mirror://xorg/individual/app/xrdb-1.2.2.tar.xz
 mirror://xorg/individual/app/xtrap-1.0.3.tar.bz2
 mirror://xorg/individual/app/xwd-1.0.9.tar.xz
 mirror://xorg/individual/driver/xf86-input-evdev-2.11.0.tar.xz