diff --git a/overlays/cross.nix b/overlays/cross.nix
index c6233aa56..e4ea729b5 100644
--- a/overlays/cross.nix
+++ b/overlays/cross.nix
@@ -864,31 +864,23 @@ in with final; {
   # 2023/07/31: upstreaming is blocked on vpnc cross compilation
   # networkmanager-vpnc = mvToNativeInputs [ glib ] prev.networkmanager-vpnc;
 
-  newsflash = prev.newsflash.overrideAttrs (upstream: {
-    nativeBuildInputs = (lib.filter (p: !lib.elem (p.pname or p.name) [ "gdk-pixbuf" "blueprint-compiler" ]) upstream.nativeBuildInputs) ++ [
-      buildPackages.git
-      (buildPackages.writeShellScriptBin "blueprint-compiler" ''
-        export GI_TYPELIB_PATH=${typelibPath [
-          buildPackages.clapper
-          buildPackages.glib
-          buildPackages.gtk4
-          buildPackages.gst_all_1.gstreamer
-          # some of these below are probably *not* needed
-          buildPackages.gst_all_1.gst-plugins-base
-          buildPackages.gst_all_1.gst-plugins-good
-          buildPackages.gst_all_1.gst-plugins-bad
-          buildPackages.gdk-pixbuf
-          buildPackages.graphene
-          buildPackages.harfbuzz
-          buildPackages.libadwaita
-          buildPackages.pango
-        ]}
-        exec ${lib.getExe buildPackages.blueprint-compiler} "$@"
-      '')
-    ];
-
-    # strictDeps = false;
-
+  newsflash = (prev.newsflash.override {
+    blueprint-compiler = buildPackages.writeShellScriptBin "blueprint-compiler" ''
+      export GI_TYPELIB_PATH=${typelibPath [
+        buildPackages.clapper
+        buildPackages.glib
+        buildPackages.gtk4
+        buildPackages.gst_all_1.gstreamer
+        buildPackages.gst_all_1.gst-plugins-base
+        buildPackages.gdk-pixbuf
+        buildPackages.pango
+        buildPackages.graphene
+        buildPackages.harfbuzz
+        buildPackages.libadwaita
+      ]}
+      exec ${lib.getExe buildPackages.blueprint-compiler} "$@"
+    '';
+  }).overrideAttrs (upstream: {
     postPatch = (upstream.postPatch or "") + ''
       substituteInPlace src/meson.build --replace-fail \
         "'src' / rust_target" \
@@ -917,40 +909,28 @@ in with final; {
       runHook postBuild
     '';
 
-     env = let
-       inherit buildPackages stdenv rust;
-       ccForBuild = "${buildPackages.stdenv.cc}/bin/${buildPackages.stdenv.cc.targetPrefix}cc";
-       cxxForBuild = "${buildPackages.stdenv.cc}/bin/${buildPackages.stdenv.cc.targetPrefix}c++";
-       ccForHost = "${stdenv.cc}/bin/${stdenv.cc.targetPrefix}cc";
-       cxxForHost = "${stdenv.cc}/bin/${stdenv.cc.targetPrefix}c++";
-       rustBuildPlatform = rust.toRustTarget stdenv.buildPlatform;
-       rustTargetPlatform = rust.toRustTarget stdenv.hostPlatform;
-       rustTargetPlatformSpec = rust.toRustTargetSpec stdenv.hostPlatform;
-     in (upstream.env or {}) // {
-       # taken from <pkgs/build-support/rust/hooks/default.nix>
-       # fixes "cargo:warning=aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu-gcc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-m64’"
-       # XXX: these aren't necessarily valid environment variables: the referenced nix file is more clever to get them to work.
-       "CC_${rustBuildPlatform}" = "${ccForBuild}";
-       "CXX_${rustBuildPlatform}" = "${cxxForBuild}";
-       "CC_${rustTargetPlatform}" = "${ccForHost}";
-       "CXX_${rustTargetPlatform}" = "${cxxForHost}";
-        # fails to fix "Failed to find OpenSSL development headers."
-        # OPENSSL_NO_VENDOR = 1;
-        # OPENSSL_LIB_DIR = "${lib.getLib openssl}/lib";
-        # OPENSSL_DIR = "${lib.getDev openssl}";
-     };
-
-    # mesonFlags = let
-    #   crossFile = writeText "cross-file.conf" ''
-    #     [binaries]
-    #     rust = [ 'rustc', '--target', '${rust.toRustTargetSpec stdenv.hostPlatform}' ]
-    #   '';
-    # in
-    #   (upstream.mesonFlags or []) ++ [
-    #     "-Dprofile=development"
-    #   ] ++ lib.optionals (stdenv.hostPlatform != stdenv.buildPlatform) [
-    #     "--cross-file=${crossFile}"
-    #   ];
+    env = let
+      inherit buildPackages stdenv rust;
+      ccForBuild = "${buildPackages.stdenv.cc}/bin/${buildPackages.stdenv.cc.targetPrefix}cc";
+      cxxForBuild = "${buildPackages.stdenv.cc}/bin/${buildPackages.stdenv.cc.targetPrefix}c++";
+      ccForHost = "${stdenv.cc}/bin/${stdenv.cc.targetPrefix}cc";
+      cxxForHost = "${stdenv.cc}/bin/${stdenv.cc.targetPrefix}c++";
+      rustBuildPlatform = rust.toRustTarget stdenv.buildPlatform;
+      rustTargetPlatform = rust.toRustTarget stdenv.hostPlatform;
+      rustTargetPlatformSpec = rust.toRustTargetSpec stdenv.hostPlatform;
+    in (upstream.env or {}) // {
+      # taken from <pkgs/build-support/rust/hooks/default.nix>
+      # fixes "cargo:warning=aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu-gcc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-m64’"
+      # XXX: these aren't necessarily valid environment variables: the referenced nix file is more clever to get them to work.
+      "CC_${rustBuildPlatform}" = "${ccForBuild}";
+      "CXX_${rustBuildPlatform}" = "${cxxForBuild}";
+      "CC_${rustTargetPlatform}" = "${ccForHost}";
+      "CXX_${rustTargetPlatform}" = "${cxxForHost}";
+      # fails to fix "Failed to find OpenSSL development headers."
+      # OPENSSL_NO_VENDOR = 1;
+      # OPENSSL_LIB_DIR = "${lib.getLib openssl}/lib";
+      # OPENSSL_DIR = "${lib.getDev openssl}";
+    };
   });
 
   # fixes "properties/gresource.xml: Permission denied"