diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/ai/airwindows/package.nix b/pkgs/by-name/ai/airwindows/package.nix
index ac0bd3f3714e..c2c5b1c41886 100644
--- a/pkgs/by-name/ai/airwindows/package.nix
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/ai/airwindows/package.nix
@@ -5,27 +5,8 @@
   lib,
   cmake,
   nix-update-script,
+  vst2-sdk,
 }:
-let
-  # adapted from oxefmsynth
-  vst-sdk = stdenv.mkDerivation {
-    dontConfigure = true;
-    dontPatch = true;
-    dontBuild = true;
-    dontStrip = true;
-    dontPatchELF = true;
-
-    name = "vstsdk3610_11_06_2018_build_37";
-    src = fetchzip {
-      url = "https://web.archive.org/web/20181016150224if_/https://download.steinberg.net/sdk_downloads/vstsdk3610_11_06_2018_build_37.zip";
-      sha256 = "0da16iwac590wphz2sm5afrfj42jrsnkr1bxcy93lj7a369ildkj";
-    };
-
-    installPhase = ''
-      cp -r VST2_SDK $out
-    '';
-  };
-in
 stdenv.mkDerivation {
   pname = "airwindows";
   version = "0-unstable-2025-01-06";
@@ -41,7 +22,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   # came from.
   prePatch = ''
     mkdir -p plugins/LinuxVST/include
-    ln -s ${vst-sdk.out} plugins/LinuxVST/include/vstsdk
+    ln -s ${vst2-sdk} plugins/LinuxVST/include/vstsdk
   '';
 
   patches = [
@@ -62,7 +43,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   ];
 
   buildInputs = [
-    vst-sdk
+    vst2-sdk
   ];
 
   installPhase = ''
@@ -82,7 +63,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
     platforms = lib.platforms.linux;
     license = [
       lib.licenses.mit
-      lib.licenses.unfree
     ];
     maintainers = [ lib.maintainers.l1npengtul ];
   };