diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index 9863aa27..21771781 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -33,6 +33,10 @@
         cmakeFlags = [ "-DBUILD_DOC=ON" ] ++ (o.cmakeFlags or []);
       });
 
+      generic = import ./nix/generic.nix { inherit version meta; };
+
+      # not generic: solstice lefdef equinox knik coloquinte bootstrap
+
       components = [
         "vlsisapd" "lefdef" "bootstrap" "hurricane" "crlcore"
         "cumulus" "flute" "etesian" "anabatic" "coloquinte"
@@ -42,6 +46,8 @@
         "unittests"
       ];
 
+      commonArgs = { inherit version meta generic; };
+
     in
 
     rec {
@@ -49,7 +55,8 @@
         builtins.foldl'
           (acc: elem: acc // {
             "coriolis-${elem}" = override (final.callPackage (
-              import "${self}/nix/${elem}.nix" { inherit version meta; }
+              let f = import (./nix + "/${elem}.nix"); in
+              f (builtins.intersectAttrs (builtins.functionArgs f) commonArgs)
             ) {});
           }) {} components;
 
diff --git a/nix/generic.nix b/nix/generic.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..469f609f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nix/generic.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+{ version, meta }:
+
+let f =
+  { lib, stdenv, cmake, ninja, boost
+  , coriolis-bootstrap, python2Packages }:
+  { name
+  , src
+  , buildInputs ? []
+  , nativeBuildInputs ? []
+  , pythonImportsCheck
+  }:
+  let
+    boostWithPython = boost.override { enablePython = true; inherit (python2Packages) python; };
+    drv = stdenv.mkDerivation {
+      pname = "coriolis-${name}";
+
+      buildInputs = [ python2Packages.python boostWithPython coriolis-bootstrap ] ++ buildInputs;
+      nativeBuildInputs = [ cmake ninja python2Packages.pythonImportsCheckHook ] ++ nativeBuildInputs;
+
+      preInstall = ''
+          export PYTHONPATH="$out/${python2Packages.python.sitePackages}:$PYTHONPATH"
+      '';
+
+      inherit version meta src pythonImportsCheck;
+    };
+  in python2Packages.toPythonModule drv;
+in
+
+pkg:
+{
+  __functionArgs = builtins.functionArgs f // builtins.functionArgs pkg;
+  __functor = self: args: f (builtins.intersectAttrs (builtins.functionArgs f) args) (pkg (builtins.intersectAttrs (builtins.functionArgs pkg) args));
+}
diff --git a/nix/vlsisapd.nix b/nix/vlsisapd.nix
index 2e35e2cc..51b99378 100644
--- a/nix/vlsisapd.nix
+++ b/nix/vlsisapd.nix
@@ -1,18 +1,11 @@
-{ version, meta }:
-
-{ lib, stdenv, cmake, boost, bison, flex
-, libxml2, qt4, ninja, coriolis-bootstrap, doxygen
-, python2Packages }:
-
-let boostWithPython = boost.override { enablePython = true; inherit (python2Packages) python; }; in
-
-python2Packages.toPythonModule (stdenv.mkDerivation {
-  pname = "coriolis-vlsisapd";
-
-  src = ../vlsisapd;
-
-  buildInputs = [ python2Packages.python boostWithPython coriolis-bootstrap libxml2 bison flex qt4 ];
-  nativeBuildInputs = [ cmake ninja doxygen ];
-
-  inherit version meta;
-})
+{ version, meta, generic, ... }:
+let pkg =
+  { libxml2, qt4, bison, flex, doxygen }:
+  {
+    name = "vlsisapd";
+    src = ../vlsisapd;
+    buildInputs = [ libxml2 qt4 ];
+    nativeBuildInputs = [ bison flex doxygen ];
+    pythonImportsCheck = [ "SPICE" "LIBERTY" "DTR" "Cfg" "CIF" "AGDS" ];
+  };
+in generic pkg