diff --git a/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/element/element-desktop.nix b/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/element/element-desktop.nix
index 55d8227f5759..f30850d2586d 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/element/element-desktop.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/element/element-desktop.nix
@@ -19,25 +19,25 @@
 }:
 
 let
-  pinData = lib.importJSON ./pin.json;
+  pinData = import ./pin.nix;
+  inherit (pinData.hashes) desktopSrcHash desktopYarnHash;
   executableName = "element-desktop";
   keytar = callPackage ./keytar { inherit Security AppKit; };
   seshat = callPackage ./seshat { inherit CoreServices; };
 in
-stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
+stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: builtins.removeAttrs pinData [ "hashes" ] // {
   pname = "element-desktop";
-  inherit (pinData) version;
-  name = "${pname}-${version}";
+  name = "${finalAttrs.pname}-${finalAttrs.version}";
   src = fetchFromGitHub {
     owner = "vector-im";
     repo = "element-desktop";
-    rev = "v${version}";
-    sha256 = pinData.desktopSrcHash;
+    rev = "v${finalAttrs.version}";
+    sha256 = desktopSrcHash;
   };
 
   offlineCache = fetchYarnDeps {
-    yarnLock = src + "/yarn.lock";
-    sha256 = pinData.desktopYarnHash;
+    yarnLock = finalAttrs.src + "/yarn.lock";
+    sha256 = desktopYarnHash;
   };
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [ yarn fixup_yarn_lock nodejs makeWrapper ]
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
     # desktop item
     mkdir -p "$out/share"
-    ln -s "${desktopItem}/share/applications" "$out/share/applications"
+    ln -s "${finalAttrs.desktopItem}/share/applications" "$out/share/applications"
 
     # executable wrapper
     # LD_PRELOAD workaround for sqlcipher not found: https://github.com/matrix-org/seshat/issues/102
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     icon = "element";
     desktopName = "Element";
     genericName = "Matrix Client";
-    comment = meta.description;
+    comment = finalAttrs.meta.description;
     categories = [ "Network" "InstantMessaging" "Chat" ];
     startupWMClass = "element";
     mimeTypes = [ "x-scheme-handler/element" ];
@@ -141,9 +141,9 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   meta = with lib; {
     description = "A feature-rich client for Matrix.org";
     homepage = "https://element.io/";
-    changelog = "https://github.com/vector-im/element-desktop/blob/v${version}/CHANGELOG.md";
+    changelog = "https://github.com/vector-im/element-desktop/blob/v${finalAttrs.version}/CHANGELOG.md";
     license = licenses.asl20;
     maintainers = teams.matrix.members;
     inherit (electron.meta) platforms;
   };
-}
+})
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/element/element-web.nix b/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/element/element-web.nix
index b73fda72174a..e6b73d2983a6 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/element/element-web.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/element/element-web.nix
@@ -12,25 +12,25 @@
 }:
 
 let
-  pinData = lib.importJSON ./pin.json;
+  pinData = import ./pin.nix;
+  inherit (pinData.hashes) webSrcHash webYarnHash;
   noPhoningHome = {
     disable_guests = true; # disable automatic guest account registration at matrix.org
   };
 in
-stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
+stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: builtins.removeAttrs pinData [ "hashes" ] // {
   pname = "element-web";
-  inherit (pinData) version;
 
   src = fetchFromGitHub {
     owner = "vector-im";
-    repo = pname;
-    rev = "v${version}";
-    sha256 = pinData.webSrcHash;
+    repo = finalAttrs.pname;
+    rev = "v${finalAttrs.version}";
+    sha256 = webSrcHash;
   };
 
   offlineCache = fetchYarnDeps {
-    yarnLock = src + "/yarn.lock";
-    sha256 = pinData.webYarnHash;
+    yarnLock = finalAttrs.src + "/yarn.lock";
+    sha256 = webYarnHash;
   };
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [ yarn fixup_yarn_lock jq nodejs ];
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   buildPhase = ''
     runHook preBuild
 
-    export VERSION=${version}
+    export VERSION=${finalAttrs.version}
     yarn build:res --offline
     yarn build:module_system --offline
     yarn build:bundle --offline
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
     cp -R webapp $out
     cp ${jitsi-meet}/libs/external_api.min.js $out/jitsi_external_api.min.js
-    echo "${version}" > "$out/version"
+    echo "${finalAttrs.version}" > "$out/version"
     jq -s '.[0] * $conf' "config.sample.json" --argjson "conf" '${builtins.toJSON noPhoningHome}' > "$out/config.json"
 
     runHook postInstall
@@ -79,9 +79,9 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   meta = {
     description = "A glossy Matrix collaboration client for the web";
     homepage = "https://element.io/";
-    changelog = "https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/blob/v${version}/CHANGELOG.md";
+    changelog = "https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/blob/v${finalAttrs.version}/CHANGELOG.md";
     maintainers = lib.teams.matrix.members;
     license = lib.licenses.asl20;
     platforms = lib.platforms.all;
   };
-}
+})
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/element/pin.json b/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/element/pin.json
deleted file mode 100644
index 05cfe1d87b67..000000000000
--- a/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/element/pin.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,7 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "version": "1.11.24",
-  "desktopSrcHash": "eAcJwoifIg0yCcYyeueVOL6CeGVMwmHpbr58MOUpK9I=",
-  "desktopYarnHash": "175ln40xp4djzc9wrx2vfg6did4rxy7nyxm6vs95pcbpv1i84g97",
-  "webSrcHash": "45xyfflTGA9LQxKi2WghYdDN0+R4ntjIPONnm+CJ5Dk=",
-  "webYarnHash": "1rwlx73chgq7x4zki9w4y3br8ypvk37vi6agqhk2dvq6y4znr93y"
-}
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/element/pin.nix b/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/element/pin.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..b1c29d0b6180
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/element/pin.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+{
+  "version" = "1.11.24";
+  "hashes" = {
+    "desktopSrcHash" = "eAcJwoifIg0yCcYyeueVOL6CeGVMwmHpbr58MOUpK9I=";
+    "desktopYarnHash" = "175ln40xp4djzc9wrx2vfg6did4rxy7nyxm6vs95pcbpv1i84g97";
+    "webSrcHash" = "45xyfflTGA9LQxKi2WghYdDN0+R4ntjIPONnm+CJ5Dk=";
+    "webYarnHash" = "1rwlx73chgq7x4zki9w4y3br8ypvk37vi6agqhk2dvq6y4znr93y";
+  };
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/element/update.sh b/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/element/update.sh
index 976b6cb0ba8f..50051d7b1a4f 100755
--- a/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/element/update.sh
+++ b/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/element/update.sh
@@ -42,12 +42,14 @@ wget "$desktop_src/yarn.lock"
 desktop_yarn_hash=$(prefetch-yarn-deps yarn.lock)
 popd
 
-cat > pin.json << EOF
+cat > pin.nix << EOF
 {
-  "version": "$version",
-  "desktopSrcHash": "$desktop_src_hash",
-  "desktopYarnHash": "$desktop_yarn_hash",
-  "webSrcHash": "$web_src_hash",
-  "webYarnHash": "$web_yarn_hash"
+  "version" = "$version";
+  "hashes" = {
+    "desktopSrcHash" = "$desktop_src_hash";
+    "desktopYarnHash" = "$desktop_yarn_hash";
+    "webSrcHash" = "$web_src_hash";
+    "webYarnHash" = "$web_yarn_hash";
+  };
 }
 EOF