diff --git a/pkgs/servers/foundationdb/default.nix b/pkgs/servers/foundationdb/default.nix
index f6a6329adb5..b9b091f8476 100644
--- a/pkgs/servers/foundationdb/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/servers/foundationdb/default.nix
@@ -6,23 +6,54 @@
 }@args:
 
 let
-  vsmake = import ./vsmake.nix args;
+  vsmakeBuild = import ./vsmake.nix args;
+
+  python3-six-patch = fetchpatch {
+    name   = "update-python-six.patch";
+    url    = "https://github.com/apple/foundationdb/commit/4bd9efc4fc74917bc04b07a84eb065070ea7edb2.patch";
+    sha256 = "030679lmc86f1wzqqyvxnwjyfrhh54pdql20ab3iifqpp9i5mi85";
+  };
+
+  python3-print-patch = fetchpatch {
+    name   = "import-for-python-print.patch";
+    url    = "https://github.com/apple/foundationdb/commit/ded17c6cd667f39699cf663c0e87fe01e996c153.patch";
+    sha256 = "11y434w68cpk7shs2r22hyrpcrqi8vx02cw7v5x79qxvnmdxv2an";
+  };
+
 in with builtins; {
-  foundationdb51 = vsmake rec {
+  foundationdb51 = vsmakeBuild rec {
     version = "5.1.7";
     branch  = "release-5.1";
     sha256  = "1rc472ih24f9s5g3xmnlp3v62w206ny0pvvw02bzpix2sdrpbp06";
+
+    patches = [
+      ./patches/ldflags-5.1.patch
+      ./patches/fix-scm-version.patch
+      python3-six-patch
+      python3-print-patch
+    ];
   };
 
-  foundationdb52 = vsmake rec {
+  foundationdb52 = vsmakeBuild rec {
     version = "5.2.8";
     branch  = "release-5.2";
     sha256  = "1kbmmhk2m9486r4kyjlc7bb3wd50204i0p6dxcmvl6pbp1bs0wlb";
+
+    patches = [
+      ./patches/ldflags-5.2.patch
+      ./patches/fix-scm-version.patch
+      python3-six-patch
+      python3-print-patch
+    ];
   };
 
-  foundationdb60 = vsmake rec {
+  foundationdb60 = vsmakeBuild rec {
     version = "6.0.18";
     branch  = "release-6.0";
     sha256  = "0q1mscailad0z7zf1nypv4g7gx3damfp45nf8nzyq47nsw5gz69p";
+
+    patches = [
+      ./patches/ldflags-6.0.patch
+    ];
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/servers/foundationdb/fix-scm-version.patch b/pkgs/servers/foundationdb/patches/fix-scm-version.patch
similarity index 100%
rename from pkgs/servers/foundationdb/fix-scm-version.patch
rename to pkgs/servers/foundationdb/patches/fix-scm-version.patch
diff --git a/pkgs/servers/foundationdb/ldflags-5.1.patch b/pkgs/servers/foundationdb/patches/ldflags-5.1.patch
similarity index 100%
rename from pkgs/servers/foundationdb/ldflags-5.1.patch
rename to pkgs/servers/foundationdb/patches/ldflags-5.1.patch
diff --git a/pkgs/servers/foundationdb/ldflags-5.2.patch b/pkgs/servers/foundationdb/patches/ldflags-5.2.patch
similarity index 100%
rename from pkgs/servers/foundationdb/ldflags-5.2.patch
rename to pkgs/servers/foundationdb/patches/ldflags-5.2.patch
diff --git a/pkgs/servers/foundationdb/ldflags-6.0.patch b/pkgs/servers/foundationdb/patches/ldflags-6.0.patch
similarity index 100%
rename from pkgs/servers/foundationdb/ldflags-6.0.patch
rename to pkgs/servers/foundationdb/patches/ldflags-6.0.patch
diff --git a/pkgs/servers/foundationdb/vsmake.nix b/pkgs/servers/foundationdb/vsmake.nix
index c782e0e9831..a834f04a086 100644
--- a/pkgs/servers/foundationdb/vsmake.nix
+++ b/pkgs/servers/foundationdb/vsmake.nix
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
 # This builder is for FoundationDB's original, somewhat strange visual studio +
 # make build system. In FoundationDB 6.1 and later, there's a new CMake system
 # (which will eventually become the default version.)
-{ stdenv49
-, lib, fetchurl, fetchpatch, fetchFromGitHub
+{ stdenv49, lib, fetchurl, fetchFromGitHub
 
 , which, findutils, m4, gawk
 , python, openjdk, mono, libressl
@@ -43,6 +42,8 @@ let
 
     # if an release is unofficial/a prerelease, then make sure this is set
     , officialRelease ? true
+
+    , patches ? []
     }: stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
         name = "foundationdb-${version}";
         inherit version;
@@ -56,32 +57,7 @@ let
         nativeBuildInputs = [ python openjdk gawk which m4 findutils mono ];
         buildInputs = [ libressl boost ];
 
-        patches =
-          [ # For 5.2+, we need a slightly adjusted patch to fix all the ldflags
-            (if lib.versionAtLeast version "5.2"
-             then (if lib.versionAtLeast version "6.0"
-                   then ./ldflags-6.0.patch
-                   else ./ldflags-5.2.patch)
-             else ./ldflags-5.1.patch)
-          ]
-          # for 6.0+, we do NOT need to apply this version fix, since we can specify
-          # it ourselves. see configurePhase
-          ++ (lib.optional (!lib.versionAtLeast version "6.0") ./fix-scm-version.patch)
-          # Versions less than 6.0 have a busted Python 3 build due to an outdated
-          # use of 'print'. Also apply an update to the six module with many bugfixes,
-          # which is in 6.0+ as well
-          ++ (lib.optional (!lib.versionAtLeast version "6.0") (fetchpatch {
-            name   = "update-python-six.patch";
-            url    = "https://github.com/apple/foundationdb/commit/4bd9efc4fc74917bc04b07a84eb065070ea7edb2.patch";
-            sha256 = "030679lmc86f1wzqqyvxnwjyfrhh54pdql20ab3iifqpp9i5mi85";
-          }))
-          ++ (lib.optional (!lib.versionAtLeast version "6.0") (fetchpatch {
-            name   = "import-for-python-print.patch";
-            url    = "https://github.com/apple/foundationdb/commit/ded17c6cd667f39699cf663c0e87fe01e996c153.patch";
-            sha256 = "11y434w68cpk7shs2r22hyrpcrqi8vx02cw7v5x79qxvnmdxv2an";
-          }))
-          ;
-
+        inherit patches;
         postPatch = ''
           # note: this does not do anything for 6.0+
           substituteInPlace ./build/scver.mk \