diff --git a/nixos/lib/make-options-doc/default.nix b/nixos/lib/make-options-doc/default.nix
index b7a47f9713e6..963ebdf41e69 100644
--- a/nixos/lib/make-options-doc/default.nix
+++ b/nixos/lib/make-options-doc/default.nix
@@ -155,33 +155,10 @@ in rec {
     OTD_REVISION = revision;
 
     nativeBuildInputs = [
-      (let
-        # python3Minimal can't be overridden with packages on Darwin, due to a missing framework.
-        # Instead of modifying stdenv, we take the easy way out, since most people on Darwin will
-        # just be hacking on the Nixpkgs manual (which also uses make-options-doc).
-        python = if pkgs.stdenv.isDarwin then pkgs.python3 else pkgs.python3Minimal;
-        self = (python.override {
-          inherit self;
-          includeSiteCustomize = true;
-        });
-      in self.withPackages (p:
-        let
-          # TODO add our own small test suite when rendering is split out into a new tool
-          markdown-it-py = p.markdown-it-py.override {
-            disableTests = true;
-          };
-          mdit-py-plugins = p.mdit-py-plugins.override {
-            inherit markdown-it-py;
-            disableTests = true;
-          };
-        in [
-          markdown-it-py
-          mdit-py-plugins
-          p.frozendict
-        ]))
+      pkgs.nixos-render-docs
     ];
   } ''
-    python ${./optionsToDocbook.py} \
+    nixos-render-docs \
       ${lib.optionalString markdownByDefault "--markdown-by-default"} \
       ${optionsJSON}/share/doc/nixos/options.json \
       > options.xml
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/nix/nixos-render-docs/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/nix/nixos-render-docs/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..1e1036537c23
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/tools/nix/nixos-render-docs/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+{ lib
+, stdenv
+, python3
+, python3Minimal
+}:
+
+let
+  # python3Minimal can't be overridden with packages on Darwin, due to a missing framework.
+  # Instead of modifying stdenv, we take the easy way out, since most people on Darwin will
+  # just be hacking on the Nixpkgs manual (which also uses make-options-doc).
+  python = ((if stdenv.isDarwin then python3 else python3Minimal).override {
+    self = python;
+    includeSiteCustomize = true;
+  });
+
+  # TODO add our own small test suite, maybe add tests for these deps to channels?
+  markdown-it-py-no-tests = python.pkgs.markdown-it-py.override {
+    disableTests = true;
+  };
+  mdit-py-plugins-no-tests = python.pkgs.mdit-py-plugins.override {
+    markdown-it-py = markdown-it-py-no-tests;
+    disableTests = true;
+  };
+in
+
+python.pkgs.buildPythonApplication {
+  pname = "nixos-render-docs";
+  version = "0.0";
+  format = "pyproject";
+
+  src = lib.cleanSourceWith {
+    filter = name: type:
+      lib.cleanSourceFilter name type
+      && ! (type == "directory"
+            && builtins.elem
+              (baseNameOf name)
+              [
+                ".pytest_cache"
+                ".mypy_cache"
+                "__pycache__"
+              ]);
+    src = ./src;
+  };
+
+  nativeBuildInputs = [
+    python.pkgs.setuptools
+  ];
+
+  propagatedBuildInputs = [
+    markdown-it-py-no-tests
+    mdit-py-plugins-no-tests
+    python.pkgs.frozendict
+  ];
+
+  meta = with lib; {
+    description = "Renderer for NixOS manual and option docs";
+    license = licenses.mit;
+    maintainers = [ ];
+  };
+}
diff --git a/nixos/lib/make-options-doc/optionsToDocbook.py b/pkgs/tools/nix/nixos-render-docs/src/nixos_render_docs/__init__.py
similarity index 87%
rename from nixos/lib/make-options-doc/optionsToDocbook.py
rename to pkgs/tools/nix/nixos-render-docs/src/nixos_render_docs/__init__.py
index adb009745e33..350f324b33cf 100644
--- a/nixos/lib/make-options-doc/optionsToDocbook.py
+++ b/pkgs/tools/nix/nixos-render-docs/src/nixos_render_docs/__init__.py
@@ -344,56 +344,57 @@ def print_decl_def(header, locs):
             print(f"""<member><filename{href}>{escape(loc['name'])}</filename></member>""")
     print(f"""</simplelist>""")
 
-markdownByDefault = False
-optOffset = 0
-for arg in sys.argv[1:]:
-    if arg == "--markdown-by-default":
-        optOffset += 1
-        markdownByDefault = True
+def main():
+    markdownByDefault = False
+    optOffset = 0
+    for arg in sys.argv[1:]:
+        if arg == "--markdown-by-default":
+            optOffset += 1
+            markdownByDefault = True
 
-options = convertMD(json.load(open(sys.argv[1 + optOffset], 'r')))
+    options = convertMD(json.load(open(sys.argv[1 + optOffset], 'r')))
 
-keys = list(options.keys())
-keys.sort(key=lambda opt: [ (0 if p.startswith("enable") else 1 if p.startswith("package") else 2, p)
-                            for p in options[opt]['loc'] ])
+    keys = list(options.keys())
+    keys.sort(key=lambda opt: [ (0 if p.startswith("enable") else 1 if p.startswith("package") else 2, p)
+                                for p in options[opt]['loc'] ])
 
-print(f"""<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>""")
-if OTD_DOCUMENT_TYPE == 'appendix':
-    print("""<appendix xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook" xml:id="appendix-configuration-options">""")
-    print("""  <title>Configuration Options</title>""")
-print(f"""<variablelist xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
-                        xmlns:nixos="tag:nixos.org"
-                        xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
-             xml:id="{OTD_VARIABLE_LIST_ID}">""")
+    print(f"""<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>""")
+    if OTD_DOCUMENT_TYPE == 'appendix':
+        print("""<appendix xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook" xml:id="appendix-configuration-options">""")
+        print("""  <title>Configuration Options</title>""")
+    print(f"""<variablelist xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
+                            xmlns:nixos="tag:nixos.org"
+                            xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+                 xml:id="{OTD_VARIABLE_LIST_ID}">""")
 
-for name in keys:
-    opt = options[name]
-    id = OTD_OPTION_ID_PREFIX + name.translate(id_translate_table)
-    print(f"""<varlistentry>""")
-    # NOTE adding extra spaces here introduces spaces into xref link expansions
-    print(f"""<term xlink:href={quoteattr("#" + id)} xml:id={quoteattr(id)}>""", end='')
-    print(f"""<option>{escape(name)}</option>""", end='')
-    print(f"""</term>""")
-    print(f"""<listitem>""")
-    print(opt['description'])
-    if typ := opt.get('type'):
-        print(typ)
-    if default := opt.get('default'):
-        print(default)
-    if example := opt.get('example'):
-        print(example)
-    if related := opt.get('relatedPackages'):
-        print(f"""<para>""")
-        print(f"""  <emphasis>Related packages:</emphasis>""")
-        print(f"""</para>""")
-        print(related)
-    if decl := opt.get('declarations'):
-        print_decl_def("Declared by", decl)
-    if defs := opt.get('definitions'):
-        print_decl_def("Defined by", defs)
-    print(f"""</listitem>""")
-    print(f"""</varlistentry>""")
+    for name in keys:
+        opt = options[name]
+        id = OTD_OPTION_ID_PREFIX + name.translate(id_translate_table)
+        print(f"""<varlistentry>""")
+        # NOTE adding extra spaces here introduces spaces into xref link expansions
+        print(f"""<term xlink:href={quoteattr("#" + id)} xml:id={quoteattr(id)}>""", end='')
+        print(f"""<option>{escape(name)}</option>""", end='')
+        print(f"""</term>""")
+        print(f"""<listitem>""")
+        print(opt['description'])
+        if typ := opt.get('type'):
+            print(typ)
+        if default := opt.get('default'):
+            print(default)
+        if example := opt.get('example'):
+            print(example)
+        if related := opt.get('relatedPackages'):
+            print(f"""<para>""")
+            print(f"""  <emphasis>Related packages:</emphasis>""")
+            print(f"""</para>""")
+            print(related)
+        if decl := opt.get('declarations'):
+            print_decl_def("Declared by", decl)
+        if defs := opt.get('definitions'):
+            print_decl_def("Defined by", defs)
+        print(f"""</listitem>""")
+        print(f"""</varlistentry>""")
 
-print("""</variablelist>""")
-if OTD_DOCUMENT_TYPE == 'appendix':
-    print("""</appendix>""")
+    print("""</variablelist>""")
+    if OTD_DOCUMENT_TYPE == 'appendix':
+        print("""</appendix>""")
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/nix/nixos-render-docs/src/pyproject.toml b/pkgs/tools/nix/nixos-render-docs/src/pyproject.toml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..d66643ef8421
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/tools/nix/nixos-render-docs/src/pyproject.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+[project]
+name = "nixos-render-docs"
+version = "0.0"
+description = "Renderer for NixOS manual and option docs"
+classifiers = [
+    "Programming Language :: Python :: 3",
+    "License :: OSI Approved :: MIT License",
+    "Operating System :: OS Independent",
+]
+
+[project.scripts]
+nixos-render-docs = "nixos_render_docs:main"
+
+[build-system]
+requires = ["setuptools"]
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 87fc70d7834a..fb9cd3334bc4 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -37557,6 +37557,8 @@ with pkgs;
 
   nixos-install-tools = callPackage ../tools/nix/nixos-install-tools { };
 
+  nixos-render-docs = callPackage ../tools/nix/nixos-render-docs { };
+
   nixdoc = callPackage ../tools/nix/nixdoc {};
 
   dnadd = callPackage ../tools/nix/dnadd { };