diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/md/mdformat/package.nix b/pkgs/by-name/md/mdformat/package.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..24cbd66d864c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/md/mdformat/package.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+{ lib
+, python3
+, runCommand
+}:
+
+let
+  python = python3;
+
+  # selector is a function mapping pythonPackages to a list of plugins
+  # e.g. `mdformat.withPlugins (ps: with ps; [ mdformat-footnote ])`
+  withPlugins = selector: runCommand "mdformat-wrapped" {
+    inherit (python.pkgs.mdformat) pname version meta;
+
+    nativeBuildInputs = [
+      python.pkgs.wrapPython
+    ];
+
+    plugins = selector python.pkgs;
+
+    passthru = {
+      inherit withPlugins;
+    };
+  } ''
+    buildPythonPath $plugins
+    makeWrapper ${lib.getExe python.pkgs.mdformat} $out/bin/mdformat \
+      --suffix PYTHONPATH : "$program_PYTHONPATH"
+  '';
+in withPlugins (ps: [ ])
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-admon/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-admon/default.nix
index a7fd0f940373..3db893042d88 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-admon/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-admon/default.nix
@@ -1,54 +1,42 @@
 { lib
 , buildPythonPackage
 , fetchFromGitHub
+, flit-core
 , mdformat
-, python3
+, mdit-py-plugins
+, pytestCheckHook
 , pythonOlder
 }:
 
-let
-  python = python3.override {
-    packageOverrides = self: super: {
-      mdit-py-plugins = super.mdit-py-plugins.overridePythonAttrs (_prev: rec {
-      version = "0.4.0";
-      doCheck = false;
-      src = fetchFromGitHub {
-        owner = "executablebooks";
-        repo = "mdit-py-plugins";
-        rev = "refs/tags/v${version}";
-        hash = "sha256-YBJu0vIOD747DrJLcqiZMHq34+gHdXeGLCw1OxxzIJ0=";
-      };
-    });
-    };
-  };
-in python.pkgs.buildPythonPackage rec {
+buildPythonPackage rec {
   pname = "mdformat-admon";
   version = "1.0.2";
-  format = "pyproject";
+  pyproject = true;
 
-  disabled = pythonOlder "3.7";
+  disabled = pythonOlder "3.8";
 
   src = fetchFromGitHub {
     owner = "KyleKing";
-    repo = pname;
+    repo = "mdformat-admon";
     rev = "v${version}";
     hash = "sha256-33Q3Re/axnoOHZ9XYA32mmK+efsSelJXW8sD7C1M/jU=";
   };
 
-  nativeBuildInputs = with python.pkgs; [
+  nativeBuildInputs = [
     flit-core
   ];
 
-  buildInputs = with python.pkgs; [
+  propagatedBuildInputs = [
     mdformat
-  ];
-
-  propagatedBuildInputs = with python.pkgs; [
     mdit-py-plugins
   ];
 
+  nativeCheckInputs = [
+    pytestCheckHook
+  ];
+
   meta = with lib; {
-    description = "mdformat plugin for admonitions";
+    description = "Mdformat plugin for admonitions";
     homepage = "https://github.com/KyleKing/mdformat-admon";
     license = licenses.mit;
     maintainers = with maintainers; [ aldoborrero ];
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-beautysh/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-beautysh/default.nix
index a117fea936eb..940e4754c270 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-beautysh/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-beautysh/default.nix
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 buildPythonPackage rec {
   pname = "mdformat-beautysh";
   version = "0.1.1";
-  format = "pyproject";
+  pyproject = true;
 
   disabled = pythonOlder "3.7";
 
@@ -28,16 +28,13 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
     poetry-core
   ];
 
-  buildInputs = [
+  propagatedBuildInputs = [
+    beautysh
     mdformat
     mdformat-gfm
     mdit-py-plugins
   ];
 
-  propagatedBuildInputs = [
-    beautysh
-  ];
-
   nativeCheckInputs = [
     pytestCheckHook
   ];
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-footnote/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-footnote/default.nix
index 4d7b56f0c2fa..4d452ce5e452 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-footnote/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-footnote/default.nix
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 buildPythonPackage rec {
   pname = "mdformat-footnote";
   version = "0.1.1";
-  format = "pyproject";
+  pyproject = true;
 
   disabled = pythonOlder "3.7";
 
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
     flit-core
   ];
 
-  buildInputs = [
+  propagatedBuildInputs = [
     mdformat
     mdit-py-plugins
   ];
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-frontmatter/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-frontmatter/default.nix
index 333cb5651130..ee2fe29693b2 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-frontmatter/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-frontmatter/default.nix
@@ -28,12 +28,9 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
     flit-core
   ];
 
-  buildInputs = [
+  propagatedBuildInputs = [
     mdformat
     mdit-py-plugins
-  ];
-
-  propagatedBuildInputs = [
     ruamel-yaml
   ];
 
@@ -42,7 +39,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
   ];
 
   meta = with lib; {
-    description = "mdformat plugin to ensure frontmatter is respected";
+    description = "Mdformat plugin to ensure frontmatter is respected";
     homepage = "https://github.com/butler54/mdformat-frontmatter";
     changelog = "https://github.com/butler54/mdformat-frontmatter/blob/v{version}/CHANGELOG.md";
     license = licenses.mit;
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-gfm/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-gfm/default.nix
index 90cb3b357841..15a79eb0f4ca 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-gfm/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-gfm/default.nix
@@ -29,14 +29,11 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
     poetry-core
   ];
 
-  buildInputs = [
-    mdformat
-    markdown-it-py
-    mdit-py-plugins
-  ];
-
   propagatedBuildInputs = [
+    markdown-it-py
+    mdformat
     mdformat-tables
+    mdit-py-plugins
     linkify-it-py
   ];
 
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-mkdocs/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-mkdocs/default.nix
index b35a1eb348b5..52ad5f97b20e 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-mkdocs/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-mkdocs/default.nix
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
     flit-core
   ];
 
-  buildInputs = [
+  propagatedBuildInputs = [
     mdformat
     mdformat-gfm
     mdit-py-plugins
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
   ];
 
   meta = with lib; {
-    description = "mdformat plugin for MkDocs";
+    description = "Mdformat plugin for MkDocs";
     homepage = "https://github.com/KyleKing/mdformat-mkdocs";
     changelog = "https://github.com/KyleKing/mdformat-mkdocs/releases/tag/v${version}";
     license = licenses.mit;
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-nix-alejandra/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-nix-alejandra/default.nix
index 6323312072ff..d59e09f999e0 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-nix-alejandra/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-nix-alejandra/default.nix
@@ -1,30 +1,37 @@
 { lib
+, alejandra
 , buildPythonPackage
 , fetchFromGitHub
 , mdformat
 , poetry-core
+, pytestCheckHook
 , pythonOlder
 }:
 
 buildPythonPackage rec {
   pname = "mdformat-nix-alejandra";
   version = "0.1.0";
-  format = "pyproject";
+  pyproject = true;
 
   disabled = pythonOlder "3.7";
 
   src = fetchFromGitHub {
     owner = "aldoborrero";
-    repo = pname;
-    rev = "${version}";
+    repo = "mdformat-nix-alejandra";
+    rev = "refs/tags/${version}";
     hash = "sha256-jUXApGsxCA+pRm4m4ZiHWlxmVkqCPx3A46oQdtyKz5g=";
   };
 
+  postPatch = ''
+    substituteInPlace mdformat_nix_alejandra/__init__.py \
+      --replace-fail '"alejandra"' '"${lib.getExe alejandra}"'
+  '';
+
   nativeBuildInputs = [
     poetry-core
   ];
 
-  buildInputs = [
+  propagatedBuildInputs = [
     mdformat
   ];
 
@@ -32,6 +39,10 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
     "mdformat_nix_alejandra"
   ];
 
+  nativeCheckInputs = [
+    pytestCheckHook
+  ];
+
   meta = with lib; {
     description = "Mdformat plugin format Nix code blocks with alejandra";
     homepage = "https://github.com/aldoborrero/mdformat-nix-alejandra";
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-simple-breaks/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-simple-breaks/default.nix
index c5bbeeb46de9..9bff43e4d402 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-simple-breaks/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-simple-breaks/default.nix
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 buildPythonPackage rec {
   pname = "mdformat-simple-breaks";
   version = "0.0.1";
-  format = "pyproject";
+  pyproject = true;
 
   disabled = pythonOlder "3.7";
 
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
     flit-core
   ];
 
-  buildInputs = [
+  propagatedBuildInputs = [
     mdformat
   ];
 
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
   ];
 
   meta = with lib; {
-    description = "mdformat plugin to render thematic breaks using three dashes";
+    description = "Mdformat plugin to render thematic breaks using three dashes";
     homepage = "https://github.com/csala/mdformat-simple-breaks";
     license = licenses.mit;
     maintainers = with maintainers; [ aldoborrero ];
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-tables/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-tables/default.nix
index 018371ada82f..cfd468d9cc6e 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-tables/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-tables/default.nix
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 buildPythonPackage rec {
   pname = "mdformat-tables";
   version = "0.4.1";
-  format = "pyproject";
+  pyproject = true;
 
   disabled = pythonOlder "3.7";
 
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
     flit-core
   ];
 
-  buildInputs = [
+  propagatedBuildInputs = [
     mdformat
   ];
 
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-toc/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-toc/default.nix
index 56d7ce69a0d4..1597dcec197a 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-toc/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat-toc/default.nix
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 buildPythonPackage rec {
   pname = "mdformat-toc";
   version = "0.3.0";
-  format = "pyproject";
+  pyproject = true;
 
   disabled = pythonOlder "3.7";
 
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
     poetry-core
   ];
 
-  buildInputs = [
+  propagatedBuildInputs = [
     mdformat
   ];
 
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat/default.nix
index a25a632f5150..eec56ee47944 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/mdformat/default.nix
@@ -5,99 +5,57 @@
 , importlib-metadata
 , makeWrapper
 , markdown-it-py
-, poetry-core
 , pytestCheckHook
-, python3
 , pythonOlder
 , setuptools
 , tomli
 , typing-extensions
 }:
 
-let
-  withPlugins = plugins: buildPythonApplication {
-    pname = "${package.pname}";
-    inherit (package) version;
-    format = "other";
+buildPythonPackage rec {
+  pname = "mdformat";
+  version = "0.7.17";
+  pyproject = true;
 
-    disabled = pythonOlder "3.7";
+  disabled = pythonOlder "3.8";
 
-    dontUnpack = true;
-    dontBuild = true;
-    doCheck = false;
-
-    nativeBuildInputs = [
-      makeWrapper
-    ];
-
-    installPhase = ''
-      makeWrapper ${package}/bin/mdformat $out/bin/mdformat \
-        --prefix PYTHONPATH : "${package}/${python3.sitePackages}:$PYTHONPATH"
-      ln -sfv ${package}/lib $out/lib
-    '';
-
-    propagatedBuildInputs = package.propagatedBuildInputs ++ plugins;
-
-    passthru = package.passthru // {
-      withPlugins = morePlugins: withPlugins (morePlugins ++ plugins);
-    };
-
-    meta.mainProgram = "mdformat";
+  src = fetchFromGitHub {
+    owner = "executablebooks";
+    repo = "mdformat";
+    rev = "refs/tags/${version}";
+    hash = "sha256-umtfbhN6sDR/rFr1LwmJ21Ph9bK1Qq43bmMVzGCPD5s=";
   };
 
-  package = buildPythonPackage rec {
-    pname = "mdformat";
-    version = "0.7.17";
-    format = "pyproject";
+  nativeBuildInputs = [
+    setuptools
+  ];
 
-    disabled = pythonOlder "3.7";
+  propagatedBuildInputs = [
+    markdown-it-py
+  ] ++ lib.optionals (pythonOlder "3.11") [
+    tomli
+  ] ++ lib.optionals (pythonOlder "3.10") [
+    importlib-metadata
+  ];
 
-    src = fetchFromGitHub {
-      owner = "executablebooks";
-      repo = pname;
-      rev = "refs/tags/${version}";
-      hash = "sha256-umtfbhN6sDR/rFr1LwmJ21Ph9bK1Qq43bmMVzGCPD5s=";
-    };
+  nativeCheckInputs = [
+    pytestCheckHook
+  ];
 
-    nativeBuildInputs = [
-      poetry-core
-      setuptools
-    ];
+  pythonImportsCheck = [
+    "mdformat"
+  ];
 
-    propagatedBuildInputs = [
-      markdown-it-py
-      tomli
-    ] ++ lib.optionals (pythonOlder "3.10") [
-      importlib-metadata
-    ] ++ lib.optionals (pythonOlder "3.7") [
-      typing-extensions
-    ];
-
-    nativeCheckInputs = [
-      pytestCheckHook
-    ];
-
-    disabledTests = [
-      # AssertionError
-      "test_no_codeblock_trailing_newline"
-      # Issue with upper/lower case
-      "default_style.md-options0"
-    ];
-
-    pythonImportsCheck = [
-      "mdformat"
-    ];
-
-    passthru = { inherit withPlugins; };
-
-    meta = with lib; {
-      description = "CommonMark compliant Markdown formatter";
-      homepage = "https://mdformat.rtfd.io/";
-      changelog = "https://github.com/executablebooks/mdformat/blob/${version}/docs/users/changelog.md";
-      license = with licenses; [ mit ];
-      maintainers = with maintainers; [ fab aldoborrero ];
-      mainProgram = "mdformat";
-    };
+  passthru = {
+    withPlugins = throw "Use pkgs.mdformat.withPlugins, i.e. the top-level attribute.";
   };
-in
-package
+
+  meta = with lib; {
+    description = "CommonMark compliant Markdown formatter";
+    homepage = "https://mdformat.rtfd.io/";
+    changelog = "https://github.com/executablebooks/mdformat/blob/${version}/docs/users/changelog.md";
+    license = licenses.mit;
+    maintainers = with maintainers; [ fab aldoborrero ];
+    mainProgram = "mdformat";
+  };
+}