diff --git a/hosts/common/programs/default.nix b/hosts/common/programs/default.nix
index c87784203..b5ffc334a 100644
--- a/hosts/common/programs/default.nix
+++ b/hosts/common/programs/default.nix
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@
     ./megapixels.nix
     ./megapixels-next.nix
     ./mepo.nix
-    ./mercurial.nix
+    ./mercurial
     ./mimeo
     ./mimetype.nix
     ./mmcli.nix
diff --git a/hosts/common/programs/mercurial.nix b/hosts/common/programs/mercurial.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index 3ac82ab9b..000000000
--- a/hosts/common/programs/mercurial.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,49 +0,0 @@
-{ pkgs, ... }:
-{
-  sane.programs.mercurial = {
-    packageUnwrapped = pkgs.mercurialFull;
-    sandbox.wrapperType = "inplace";  # etc/mercurial/hgrc refers to hg python-path (to define an extension)
-    suggestedPrograms = [
-      "less"  #< TODO: this might be a missing dependency on the nix side of things?
-    ];
-    sandbox.net = "clearnet";
-    sandbox.whitelistPwd = true;
-    sandbox.whitelistSsh = true;
-    sandbox.extraHomePaths = [
-      # even with `whitelistPwd`, hg has to crawl *up* the path -- which isn't necessarily in the sandbox -- to locate the repo root.
-      "dev"
-      "ref"
-    ];
-    fs.".config/hg/hgrc".symlink.text = ''
-      # `hg config` => to show the finalized config
-
-      [extensions]
-      # Mercurial Queues (MQ) extension adds patch-stack support to mercurial.
-      # MQ is shipped in mercurial, but not enabled by default.
-      # it's a port of some git extension, idk which.
-      mq =
-
-      [diff]
-      # showfunc = True
-      # `diff.git = True`: render diffs with `diff --git` instead of `diff -r`
-      git = True
-      # `diff.unified = N`: show N lines of context (else, use default as per `diff`)
-      # unified = 10
-
-      [alias]
-      q = qseries -s -v
-      #
-      # `hg qdup NEW_QUEUE_NAME`: copy all patches in the current queue into a new queue
-      # current queue must not be named "patches"
-      qdup = !$HG qq --active > /tmp/hg.active ; $HG qpop -a ; cp -R .hg/patches-$(cat /tmp/hg.active) .hg/patches-$1 ; echo $1 >> .hg/patches.queues ; $HG qq $1
-      qstat = qdiff --stat
-      sblame = blame -undq
-      #
-      # these aliases are BROKEN:
-      # `hg qmigrate OTHER_QUEUE_NAME`: copy currently-applied patches onto another queue
-      # qmigrate = !$HG export -o '/tmp/qmigrate-$1' ; $HG qpop -a ; $HG qqueue $1 ; $HG import '/tmp/qmigrate-$1'
-      # `hg qcref`: like `git add -p`; select which changes should be in this patch, interactively
-      # qcref = !$HG qrefresh --exclude . && $HG qrefresh --config ui.interface.chunkselector=curses --interactive
-    '';
-  };
-}
diff --git a/hosts/common/programs/mercurial/default.nix b/hosts/common/programs/mercurial/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b2f386ad0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hosts/common/programs/mercurial/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+{ pkgs, ... }:
+{
+  sane.programs.mercurial = {
+    packageUnwrapped = pkgs.mercurialFull;
+    sandbox.wrapperType = "inplace";  # etc/mercurial/hgrc refers to hg python-path (to define an extension)
+    suggestedPrograms = [
+      "less"  #< TODO: this might be a missing dependency on the nix side of things?
+    ];
+    sandbox.net = "clearnet";
+    sandbox.whitelistPwd = true;
+    sandbox.whitelistSsh = true;
+    sandbox.extraHomePaths = [
+      # even with `whitelistPwd`, hg has to crawl *up* the path -- which isn't necessarily in the sandbox -- to locate the repo root.
+      "dev"
+      "ref"
+    ];
+    fs.".config/hg/hgrc".symlink.target = ./hgrc;
+  };
+}
diff --git a/hosts/common/programs/mercurial/hgrc b/hosts/common/programs/mercurial/hgrc
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4c6a64de9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hosts/common/programs/mercurial/hgrc
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+# `hg config` => to show the finalized config
+
+[extensions]
+# Mercurial Queues (MQ) extension adds patch-stack support to mercurial.
+# MQ is shipped in mercurial, but not enabled by default.
+# it's a port of some git extension, idk which.
+mq =
+
+[diff]
+# showfunc = True
+# `diff.git = True`: render diffs with `diff --git` instead of `diff -r`
+git = True
+# `diff.unified = N`: show N lines of context (else, use default as per `diff`)
+# unified = 10
+
+[alias]
+q = qseries -s -v
+#
+# `hg qdup NEW_QUEUE_NAME`: copy all patches in the current queue into a new queue
+# current queue must not be named "patches"
+qdup = !$HG qq --active > /tmp/hg.active ; $HG qpop -a ; cp -R .hg/patches-$(cat /tmp/hg.active) .hg/patches-$1 ; echo $1 >> .hg/patches.queues ; $HG qq $1
+qstat = qdiff --stat
+sblame = blame -undq
+#
+# these aliases are BROKEN:
+# `hg qmigrate OTHER_QUEUE_NAME`: copy currently-applied patches onto another queue
+# qmigrate = !$HG export -o '/tmp/qmigrate-$1' ; $HG qpop -a ; $HG qqueue $1 ; $HG import '/tmp/qmigrate-$1'
+# `hg qcref`: like `git add -p`; select which changes should be in this patch, interactively
+# qcref = !$HG qrefresh --exclude . && $HG qrefresh --config ui.interface.chunkselector=curses --interactive