diff --git a/overlays/cross.nix b/overlays/cross.nix
index ac5a2a72e..a545acd0e 100644
--- a/overlays/cross.nix
+++ b/overlays/cross.nix
@@ -852,7 +852,7 @@ in {
   });
 
   mepo-latest = prev.mepo-latest.overrideAttrs (upstream: {
-    doCheck = false;
+    dontUseZigCheck = true;
     nativeBuildInputs = upstream.nativeBuildInputs ++ [
       # zig hardcodes the /lib/ld-linux.so interpreter which breaks nix dynamic linking & dep tracking
       final.autoPatchelfHook
@@ -869,18 +869,15 @@ in {
         --replace 'step.linkSystemLibrary("curl")' 'step.linkSystemLibrary("libcurl")' \
         --replace 'exe.install();' 'exe.install(); if (true) { return; } // skip tests when cross compiling'
     '';
+    # skip the mepo -docman self-documenting invocation
+    postInstall = ''
+      install -d $out/share/man/man1
+    '';
     # optional `zig build` debugging flags:
     # - --verbose
     # - --verbose-cimport
     # - --help
-    installPhase = ''
-      runHook preInstall
-
-      zig build -Dtarget=aarch64-linux-gnu -Drelease-safe=true -Dcpu=baseline --prefix $out install
-      install -d $out/share/man/man1
-
-      runHook postInstall
-    '';
+    zigBuildFlags = [ "-Dtarget=aarch64-linux-gnu" ];
   });
 
   # mepo = emulateBuildMachine (prev.mepo.override {
diff --git a/overlays/preferences.nix b/overlays/preferences.nix
index 90b875fc3..bb9e988a0 100644
--- a/overlays/preferences.nix
+++ b/overlays/preferences.nix
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 # prefer to encode these in `sane.programs`
 # resort to this method for e.g. system dependencies, or things which are referenced from too many places.
 (next: prev: {
+  # it's an input to e.g. sxmo-utils, so we need to override it here.
+  mepo = next.mepo-latest;
+
   pipewire = prev.pipewire.override {
     # avoid a dep on python3.10-PyQt5, which has mixed qt5 versions.
     # this means we lose firewire support (oh well..?)
diff --git a/pkgs/default.nix b/pkgs/default.nix
index 290ae2c01..e728f8ac1 100644
--- a/pkgs/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/default.nix
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ let
     eg25-manager = callPackage ./additional/eg25-manager { };
     feeds = lib.recurseIntoAttrs (callPackage ./additional/feeds { });
     lemoa = callPackage ./additional/lemoa { };
-    mepo-latest = callPackage ./additional/mepo-latest { };
+    mepo-latest = callPackage ./additional/mepo-latest { inherit (unpatched) mepo; };
     jellyfin-media-player-qt6 = callPackage ./additional/jellyfin-media-player-qt6 { };
     firefox-extensions = lib.recurseIntoAttrs (callPackage ./additional/firefox-extensions { });
     gopass-native-messaging-host = callPackage ./additional/gopass-native-messaging-host { };