diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/update-from-overlay b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/update-from-overlay
index fc5657e44196..d65e93e3e4d2 100755
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/update-from-overlay
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/update-from-overlay
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 #! nix-shell -i bash -p curl nix
 set -euxo pipefail
 
+export NIXPKGS_ALLOW_BROKEN=1
+
 # This script piggybacks on the automatic code generation done by the nix-community emacs overlay
 # You can use this to avoid running lengthy code generation jobs locally
 
@@ -14,6 +16,6 @@ nix-instantiate ../../../.. -A emacsPackagesNg.orgPackages --show-trace
 git diff --exit-code org-generated.nix > /dev/null || git commit -m "emacsPackages.org-packages: $(date --iso)" -- org-generated.nix
 
 curl -s -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nix-community/emacs-overlay/master/repos/melpa/recipes-archive-melpa.json
-env NIXPKGS_ALLOW_BROKEN=1 nix-instantiate --show-trace ../../../../ -A emacsPackages.melpaStablePackages
-env NIXPKGS_ALLOW_BROKEN=1 nix-instantiate --show-trace ../../../../ -A emacsPackages.melpaPackages
+env nix-instantiate --show-trace ../../../../ -A emacsPackages.melpaStablePackages
+env nix-instantiate --show-trace ../../../../ -A emacsPackages.melpaPackages
 git diff --exit-code recipes-archive-melpa.json > /dev/null || git commit -m "emacsPackages.melpa-packages: $(date --iso)" -- recipes-archive-melpa.json