diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/haskell/ghc-settings-edit/Setup.hs b/pkgs/development/tools/haskell/ghc-settings-edit/Setup.hs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..9a994af677b0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/haskell/ghc-settings-edit/Setup.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+import Distribution.Simple
+main = defaultMain
diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/haskell/ghc-settings-edit/default.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/haskell/ghc-settings-edit/default.nix
index f1f08b620588..fa5146a128bb 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/haskell/ghc-settings-edit/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/haskell/ghc-settings-edit/default.nix
@@ -1,33 +1,31 @@
 {
-  stdenv,
-  ghc,
+  mkDerivation,
+  base,
+  containers,
   lib,
 }:
 
-stdenv.mkDerivation {
+mkDerivation {
   pname = "ghc-settings-edit";
   version = "0.1.0";
-  # See the source code for an explanation
-  src = ./ghc-settings-edit.lhs;
-  dontUnpack = true;
-  dontBuild = true;
-
-  nativeBuildInputs = [ ghc ];
-  installPhase = ''
-    runHook preInstall
-
-    mkdir -p "$out/bin"
-    ${ghc.targetPrefix}ghc --make "$src" -o "$out/bin/ghc-settings-edit"
-
-    runHook postInstall
-  '';
-
-  meta = {
-    license = [
-      lib.licenses.mit
-      lib.licenses.bsd3
+  src = lib.fileset.toSource {
+    root = ./.;
+    fileset = lib.fileset.unions [
+      ./Setup.hs
+      ./ghc-settings-edit.lhs
+      ./ghc-settings-edit.cabal
     ];
-    platforms = lib.platforms.all;
-    description = "Tool for editing GHC's settings file";
   };
+  isLibrary = false;
+  isExecutable = true;
+  executableHaskellDepends = [
+    base
+    containers
+  ];
+  license = [
+    lib.licenses.mit
+    lib.licenses.bsd3
+  ];
+  description = "Tool for editing GHC's settings file";
+  mainProgram = "ghc-settings-edit";
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/haskell/ghc-settings-edit/ghc-settings-edit.cabal b/pkgs/development/tools/haskell/ghc-settings-edit/ghc-settings-edit.cabal
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e31515c6391f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/haskell/ghc-settings-edit/ghc-settings-edit.cabal
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+cabal-version: 2.2
+name: ghc-settings-edit
+version: 0.1.0
+synopsis: Tool for editing GHC's settings file
+-- TODO: description for hackage
+-- TODO: category for hackage
+license: MIT AND BSD-3-Clause
+author: sternenseemann
+-- FIXME: must be email for potential Hackage upload
+maintainer: @NixOS/haskell
+copyright: © 2024 The Nixpkgs/NixOS contributors
+stability: experimental
+build-type: Simple
+bug-reports: https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues
+
+executable ghc-settings-edit
+  default-language: Haskell2010
+  -- TODO: bounds for hackage
+  build-depends:    base
+                  , containers
+  main-is:          ghc-settings-edit.lhs
+  hs-source-dirs:   .