diff --git a/pkgs/tools/package-management/packagekit/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/package-management/packagekit/default.nix
index d3a9e2ee3bd..95fecd20850 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/package-management/packagekit/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/package-management/packagekit/default.nix
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@
 , gobject-introspection
 , vala
 , gtk-doc
-, nix
 , boost
 , meson
 , ninja
@@ -48,7 +47,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     gst_all_1.gst-plugins-base
     gtk3
     sqlite
-    nix
     boost
   ] ++ lib.optional enableSystemd systemd
   ++ lib.optional enableBashCompletion bash-completion;
@@ -69,7 +67,10 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   mesonFlags = [
     (if enableSystemd then "-Dsystemd=true" else "-Dsystem=false")
-    "-Dpackaging_backend=nix"
+    # often fails to build with nix updates
+    # and remounts /nix/store as rw
+    # https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/177946
+    #"-Dpackaging_backend=nix"
     "-Ddbus_sys=${placeholder "out"}/share/dbus-1/system.d"
     "-Ddbus_services=${placeholder "out"}/share/dbus-1/system-services"
     "-Dsystemdsystemunitdir=${placeholder "out"}/lib/systemd/system"
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 3ce2b54eece..cb8ba1fb346 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -10390,7 +10390,7 @@ with pkgs;
 
   p7zip = callPackage ../tools/archivers/p7zip { };
 
-  packagekit = callPackage ../tools/package-management/packagekit { nix = nixVersions.nix_2_8; };
+  packagekit = callPackage ../tools/package-management/packagekit { };
 
   packetdrill = callPackage ../tools/networking/packetdrill { };