diff --git a/hosts/common/programs/neovim.nix b/hosts/common/programs/neovim.nix
index d3182f54..60e2966f 100644
--- a/hosts/common/programs/neovim.nix
+++ b/hosts/common/programs/neovim.nix
@@ -103,54 +103,61 @@ in
       # "use"
     ];
 
-    # packageUnwrapped = config.programs.neovim.finalPackage;
-    packageUnwrapped = pkgs.wrapNeovimUnstable pkgs.neovim-unwrapped (pkgs.neovimUtils.makeNeovimConfig {
-      withRuby = false;  #< doesn't cross-compile w/o binfmt
-      viAlias = true;
-      vimAlias = true;
-      plugins = plugin-packages;
-      customRC = ''
-        " let the terminal handle mouse events, that way i get OS-level ctrl+shift+c/etc
-        " this used to be default, until <https://github.com/neovim/neovim/pull/19290>
-        set mouse=
+    packageUnwrapped = let
+      configArgs = {
+        withRuby = false;  #< doesn't cross-compile w/o binfmt
+        viAlias = true;
+        vimAlias = true;
+        plugins = plugin-packages;
+        customRC = ''
+          " let the terminal handle mouse events, that way i get OS-level ctrl+shift+c/etc
+          " this used to be default, until <https://github.com/neovim/neovim/pull/19290>
+          set mouse=
 
-        " copy/paste to system clipboard
-        set clipboard=unnamedplus
+          " copy/paste to system clipboard
+          set clipboard=unnamedplus
 
-        " screw tabs; always expand them into spaces
-        set expandtab
+          " screw tabs; always expand them into spaces
+          set expandtab
 
-        " at least don't open files with sections folded by default
-        set nofoldenable
+          " at least don't open files with sections folded by default
+          set nofoldenable
 
-        " allow text substitutions for certain glyphs.
-        " higher number = more aggressive substitution (0, 1, 2, 3)
-        " i only make use of this for tex, but it's unclear how to
-        " apply that *just* to tex and retain the SyntaxRange stuff.
-        set conceallevel=2
+          " allow text substitutions for certain glyphs.
+          " higher number = more aggressive substitution (0, 1, 2, 3)
+          " i only make use of this for tex, but it's unclear how to
+          " apply that *just* to tex and retain the SyntaxRange stuff.
+          set conceallevel=2
 
-        " horizontal rule under the active line
-        " set cursorline
+          " horizontal rule under the active line
+          " set cursorline
 
-        " highlight trailing space & related syntax errors (doesn't seem to work??)
-        " let c_space_errors=1
-        " let python_space_errors=1
+          " highlight trailing space & related syntax errors (doesn't seem to work??)
+          " let c_space_errors=1
+          " let python_space_errors=1
 
-        " enable highlighting of leading/trailing spaces,
-        " and especially tabs
-        " source: https://www.reddit.com/r/neovim/comments/chlmfk/highlight_trailing_whitespaces_in_neovim/
-        set list
-        set listchars=tab:▷\·,trail:·,extends:◣,precedes:◢,nbsp:○
+          " enable highlighting of leading/trailing spaces,
+          " and especially tabs
+          " source: https://www.reddit.com/r/neovim/comments/chlmfk/highlight_trailing_whitespaces_in_neovim/
+          set list
+          set listchars=tab:▷\·,trail:·,extends:◣,precedes:◢,nbsp:○
 
-        """"" PLUGIN CONFIG (vim)
-        ${plugin-config-viml}
+          """"" PLUGIN CONFIG (vim)
+          ${plugin-config-viml}
 
-        """"" PLUGIN CONFIG (lua)
-        lua <<EOF
-        ${plugin-config-lua}
-        EOF
-      '';
-    });
+          """"" PLUGIN CONFIG (lua)
+          lua <<EOF
+          ${plugin-config-lua}
+          EOF
+        '';
+      };
+    in pkgs.wrapNeovimUnstable
+      pkgs.neovim-unwrapped
+      # XXX(2024/05/13): manifestRc must be null for cross-compilation to work.
+      #   wrapper invokes `neovim` with all plugins enabled at build time i guess to generate caches and stuff?
+      #   alternative is to emulate `nvim-wrapper` during build.
+      ((pkgs.neovimUtils.makeNeovimConfig configArgs) // { manifestRc = null; })
+    ;
 
     # private because there could be sensitive things in the swap
     persist.byStore.private = [ ".cache/vim-swap" ];
diff --git a/overlays/cross.nix b/overlays/cross.nix
index f1c068a5..41c25e39 100644
--- a/overlays/cross.nix
+++ b/overlays/cross.nix
@@ -2094,15 +2094,15 @@ in with final; {
   # };
 
   # fixes `hostPrograms.moby.neovim` (but breaks eval of `hostPkgs.moby.neovim` :o)
-  wrapNeovimUnstable = neovim: config: (prev.wrapNeovimUnstable neovim config).overrideAttrs (upstream: {
-    # nvim wrapper has a sanity check that the plugins will load correctly.
-    # this is effectively a check phase and should be rewritten as such
-    postBuild = lib.replaceStrings
-      [ "! $out/bin/nvim-wrapper" ]
-      # [ "${stdenv.hostPlatform.emulator buildPackages} $out/bin/nvim-wrapper" ]
-      [ "false && $out/bin/nvim-wrapper" ]
-      upstream.postBuild;
-  });
+  # wrapNeovimUnstable = neovim: config: (prev.wrapNeovimUnstable neovim config).overrideAttrs (upstream: {
+  #   # nvim wrapper has a sanity check that the plugins will load correctly.
+  #   # this is effectively a check phase and should be rewritten as such
+  #   postBuild = lib.replaceStrings
+  #     [ "! $out/bin/nvim-wrapper" ]
+  #     # [ "${stdenv.hostPlatform.emulator buildPackages} $out/bin/nvim-wrapper" ]
+  #     [ "false && $out/bin/nvim-wrapper" ]
+  #     upstream.postBuild;
+  # });
 
   # 2023/07/30: upstreaming is blocked on unar (gnustep), unless i also make that optional
   xarchiver = mvToNativeInputs [ libxslt ] prev.xarchiver;