diff --git a/nixos/tests/hydra/common.nix b/nixos/tests/hydra/common.nix
index 2bce03418e1f..f31518b1e2a2 100644
--- a/nixos/tests/hydra/common.nix
+++ b/nixos/tests/hydra/common.nix
@@ -36,13 +36,6 @@
       '';
     };
     services.postfix.enable = true;
-    nix = {
-      distributedBuilds = true;
-      buildMachines = [{
-        hostName = "localhost";
-        systems = [ system ];
-      }];
-      settings.substituters = [];
-    };
+    nix.settings.substituters = [];
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/misc/hydra/unstable.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/misc/hydra/unstable.nix
index 3d5d81452af3..ecd8f5ac9ae9 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/misc/hydra/unstable.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/misc/hydra/unstable.nix
@@ -123,13 +123,13 @@ let
 in
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   pname = "hydra";
-  version = "2023-12-24";
+  version = "2024-03-08";
 
   src = fetchFromGitHub {
     owner = "NixOS";
     repo = "hydra";
-    rev = "02e453fc8c39751843220eaecdeaf7d539b7e765";
-    hash = "sha256-hIXRgu2MGqFYCALDKAiP+8lE859zftRe4OVIgGOTkvc=";
+    rev = "8f56209bd6f3b9ec53d50a23812a800dee7a1969";
+    hash = "sha256-mhEj02VruXPmxz3jsKHMov2ERNXk9DwaTAunWEO1iIQ=";
   };
 
   buildInputs = [
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index be11bf1f3249..fbedb7c02f73 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -21776,7 +21776,7 @@ with pkgs;
 
   hwloc = callPackage ../development/libraries/hwloc { };
 
-  hydra_unstable = callPackage ../development/tools/misc/hydra/unstable.nix { nix = nixVersions.nix_2_19; };
+  hydra_unstable = callPackage ../development/tools/misc/hydra/unstable.nix { nix = nixVersions.nix_2_20; };
 
   hydra-cli = callPackage ../development/tools/misc/hydra-cli { };