diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-5/5.15/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-5/5.15/default.nix
index 5ae5102abeee..ac4614d2aee1 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-5/5.15/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-5/5.15/default.nix
@@ -331,4 +331,14 @@ let
       } ../hooks/wrap-qt-apps-hook.sh;
     };
 
-in makeScopeWithSplicing (generateSplicesForMkScope "qt5") (_: {}) (_: {}) addPackages
+  baseScope = makeScopeWithSplicing (generateSplicesForMkScope "qt5") (_: {}) (_: {}) addPackages;
+
+  bootstrapScope = baseScope.overrideScope(final: prev: {
+    qtbase = prev.qtbase.override { qttranslations = null; };
+    qtdeclarative = null;
+  });
+
+  finalScope = baseScope.overrideScope(final: prev: {
+    qttranslations = bootstrapScope.qttranslations;
+  });
+in finalScope
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-5/modules/qtbase.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-5/modules/qtbase.nix
index de73bcbe2772..9f0feaf94e58 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-5/modules/qtbase.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-5/modules/qtbase.nix
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
   # optional dependencies
 , cups ? null, postgresql ? null
 , withGtk3 ? false, dconf, gtk3
+, qttranslations ? null
 
   # options
 , libGLSupported ? !stdenv.isDarwin
@@ -310,6 +311,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
     ] ++ lib.optionals (mysqlSupport) [
       "-L" "${libmysqlclient}/lib"
       "-I" "${libmysqlclient}/include"
+    ] ++ lib.optional (qttranslations != null) [
+      "-translationdir" "${qttranslations}/translations"
     ]
   );
 
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-5/modules/qttools.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-5/modules/qttools.nix
index be96236d7285..bac70d146bf9 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-5/modules/qttools.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-5/modules/qttools.nix
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ qtModule {
     "bin/macdeployqt"
   ];
 
-  env.NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE = lib.optionalString stdenv.isDarwin ''-DNIXPKGS_QMLIMPORTSCANNER="${qtdeclarative.dev}/bin/qmlimportscanner"'';
+  env.NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE = lib.optionalString (stdenv.isDarwin && qtdeclarative != null) ''-DNIXPKGS_QMLIMPORTSCANNER="${qtdeclarative.dev}/bin/qmlimportscanner"'';
 
   setupHook = ../hooks/qttools-setup-hook.sh;
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-5/modules/qttranslations.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-5/modules/qttranslations.nix
index f49a4eb9a85d..bcd52cdc4a8f 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-5/modules/qttranslations.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-5/modules/qttranslations.nix
@@ -2,5 +2,6 @@
 
 qtModule {
   pname = "qttranslations";
-  qtInputs = [ qttools ];
+  nativeBuildInputs = [ qttools ];
+  outputs = [ "out" ];
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-5/qtModule.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-5/qtModule.nix
index 9abd9fabc957..bddbf254c5f7 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-5/qtModule.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/qt-5/qtModule.nix
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ mkDerivation (args // {
   patches = (args.patches or []) ++ (patches.${pname} or []);
 
   nativeBuildInputs = (args.nativeBuildInputs or []) ++ [ perl self.qmake ];
-  propagatedBuildInputs = args.qtInputs ++ (args.propagatedBuildInputs or []);
+  propagatedBuildInputs = (args.qtInputs or []) ++ (args.propagatedBuildInputs or []);
 
   outputs = args.outputs or [ "out" "dev" ];
   setOutputFlags = args.setOutputFlags or false;