diff --git a/pkgs/tools/typesetting/tex/texlive/build-tex-env.nix b/pkgs/tools/typesetting/tex/texlive/build-tex-env.nix
index 7c5e870dfdcd..17d31e0303e7 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/typesetting/tex/texlive/build-tex-env.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/typesetting/tex/texlive/build-tex-env.nix
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@
   makeFontsConf,
   makeWrapper,
   runCommand,
-  writeShellScript,
   toTLPkgSets,
   perl,
 
@@ -279,12 +278,12 @@ lib.fix (
           );
           derivationArgs = {
             outputs = [ outName ];
-            nativeBuildInputs = [
-              # force the output to be ${outName} or nix-env will not work
-              (writeShellScript "force-output.sh" ''
-                export out="''${${outName}-}"
-              '')
-            ];
+
+            # force the output to be ${outName} or nix-env will not work
+            preHook = ''
+              export out="''${${outName}}"
+            '';
+
             inherit meta passthru;
           };
         }
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/typesetting/tex/texlive/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/typesetting/tex/texlive/default.nix
index 9e1cd3913fa3..5f486f608e2a 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/typesetting/tex/texlive/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/typesetting/tex/texlive/default.nix
@@ -243,7 +243,6 @@ let
       makeFontsConf
       makeWrapper
       runCommand
-      writeShellScript
       toTLPkgSets
       perl
       coreutils