diff --git a/Cabal/Distribution/Simple/Build/PathsModule.hs b/Cabal/Distribution/Simple/Build/PathsModule.hs
index 5e660e8d6..1ae603c94 100644
--- a/libraries/Cabal/Cabal/Distribution/Simple/Build/PathsModule.hs
+++ b/libraries/Cabal/Cabal/Distribution/Simple/Build/PathsModule.hs
@@ -37,6 +37,9 @@ import System.FilePath ( pathSeparator )
 -- * Building Paths_<pkg>.hs
 -- ------------------------------------------------------------
 
+splitPath :: FilePath -> [ String ]
+splitPath = unintersperse pathSeparator
+
 generatePathsModule :: PackageDescription -> LocalBuildInfo -> ComponentLocalBuildInfo -> String
 generatePathsModule pkg_descr lbi clbi =
    let pragmas =
@@ -78,12 +81,44 @@ generatePathsModule pkg_descr lbi clbi =
           "import System.Environment (getExecutablePath)\n"
         | otherwise = ""
 
+       dirs = [ (flat_libdir, "LibDir")
+              , (flat_dynlibdir, "DynLibDir")
+              , (flat_datadir, "DataDir")
+              , (flat_libexecdir, "LibexecDir")
+              , (flat_sysconfdir, "SysconfDir") ];
+
+       shouldEmitPath p
+         | (splitPath flat_prefix) `isPrefixOf` (splitPath flat_bindir) = True
+         | (splitPath flat_prefix) `isPrefixOf` (splitPath p) = False
+         | otherwise = True
+
+       shouldEmitDataDir = shouldEmitPath flat_datadir
+
+       nixEmitPathFn (path, name) = let
+         varName = toLower <$> name
+         fnName = "get"++name
+         in if shouldEmitPath path then
+              varName ++ " :: FilePath\n"++
+              varName ++ " = " ++ show path ++
+              "\n" ++ fnName ++ " :: IO FilePath" ++
+              "\n" ++ fnName ++ " = " ++ mkGetEnvOr varName ("return " ++ varName)++"\n"
+            else ""
+
+       absBody = intercalate "\n" $ nixEmitPathFn <$> dirs
+
+       warnPragma = case filter (not . shouldEmitPath . fst) dirs of
+         [] -> ""
+         omittedDirs -> "{-# WARNING \"The functions: "++omittedFns++" Have been omitted by the Nix build system.\" #-}"
+           where omittedFns = intercalate ", " $ map snd omittedDirs
+
+       importList = intercalate ", " $ ("get" ++) . snd <$> filter (shouldEmitPath . fst) dirs
+
        header =
         pragmas++
-        "module " ++ prettyShow paths_modulename ++ " (\n"++
-        "    version,\n"++
-        "    getBinDir, getLibDir, getDynLibDir, getDataDir, getLibexecDir,\n"++
-        "    getDataFileName, getSysconfDir\n"++
+        "module " ++ prettyShow paths_modulename ++ " " ++ warnPragma ++ " (\n"++
+        "    version, getBinDir,\n"++
+        (if shouldEmitDataDir then "    getDataFileName, \n" else "\n")++
+        "    " ++ importList ++"\n"++
         "  ) where\n"++
         "\n"++
         foreign_imports++
@@ -136,26 +171,18 @@ generatePathsModule pkg_descr lbi clbi =
           "\n"++
           filename_stuff
         | absolute =
-          "\nbindir, libdir, dynlibdir, datadir, libexecdir, sysconfdir :: FilePath\n"++
+          "\nbindir :: FilePath\n"++
           "\nbindir     = " ++ show flat_bindir ++
-          "\nlibdir     = " ++ show flat_libdir ++
-          "\ndynlibdir  = " ++ show flat_dynlibdir ++
-          "\ndatadir    = " ++ show flat_datadir ++
-          "\nlibexecdir = " ++ show flat_libexecdir ++
-          "\nsysconfdir = " ++ show flat_sysconfdir ++
           "\n"++
-          "\ngetBinDir, getLibDir, getDynLibDir, getDataDir, getLibexecDir, getSysconfDir :: IO FilePath\n"++
+          "\ngetBinDir :: IO FilePath\n"++
           "getBinDir = "++mkGetEnvOr "bindir" "return bindir"++"\n"++
-          "getLibDir = "++mkGetEnvOr "libdir" "return libdir"++"\n"++
-          "getDynLibDir = "++mkGetEnvOr "dynlibdir" "return dynlibdir"++"\n"++
-          "getDataDir = "++mkGetEnvOr "datadir" "return datadir"++"\n"++
-          "getLibexecDir = "++mkGetEnvOr "libexecdir" "return libexecdir"++"\n"++
-          "getSysconfDir = "++mkGetEnvOr "sysconfdir" "return sysconfdir"++"\n"++
-          "\n"++
-          "getDataFileName :: FilePath -> IO FilePath\n"++
-          "getDataFileName name = do\n"++
-          "  dir <- getDataDir\n"++
-          "  return (dir ++ "++path_sep++" ++ name)\n"
+          absBody ++ "\n"++
+          (if shouldEmitDataDir then
+             "getDataFileName :: FilePath -> IO FilePath\n"++
+             "getDataFileName name = do\n"++
+             "  dir <- getDataDir\n"++
+             "  return (dir ++ "++path_sep++" ++ name)\n"
+           else "\n")
         | otherwise =
           "\nprefix, bindirrel :: FilePath" ++
           "\nprefix        = " ++ show flat_prefix ++