diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 1638192c33df..e9347a08d646 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -112,7 +112,11 @@ with pkgs;
 
   tests = callPackages ../test {};
 
-  defaultPkgConfigPackages = import ./pkg-config/defaultPkgConfigPackages.nix pkgs;
+  defaultPkgConfigPackages =
+    # We don't want nix-env -q to enter this, because all of these are aliases.
+    dontRecurseIntoAttrs (
+      import ./pkg-config/defaultPkgConfigPackages.nix pkgs
+    );
 
   ### Nixpkgs maintainer tools