diff --git a/pkgs/tools/system/plan9port/builder.sh b/pkgs/tools/system/plan9port/builder.sh
index c0d7134bcc59..77f6632ff533 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/system/plan9port/builder.sh
+++ b/pkgs/tools/system/plan9port/builder.sh
@@ -3,11 +3,40 @@ source $stdenv/setup
 export PLAN9=$out/plan9
 export PLAN9_TARGET=$PLAN9
 
+plan9portLinkFlags()
+{
+    local -a linkFlags=()
+    eval set -- "$NIX_LDFLAGS"
+    while (( $# > 0 )); do
+        if [[ $1 = -rpath ]]; then
+            linkFlags+=( "-Wl,-rpath,$2" )
+            shift 2
+        else
+            linkFlags+=( "$1" )
+            shift
+        fi
+    done
+    echo "${linkFlags[*]}"
+}
+
 configurePhase()
 {
-    echo CFLAGS=\"-I${fontconfig_dev}/include -I${xorgproto_exp}/include -I${libX11_dev}/include -I${libXt_dev}/include -I${libXext_dev}/include -I${freetype_dev}/include -I${zlib_dev}/include\" > LOCAL.config
-    echo LDFLAGS=\"-L${fontconfig_lib}/lib -L${xorgproto_exp}/lib -L${libX11_exp}/lib -L${libXt_exp}/lib -L${libXext_exp}/lib -L${freetype_exp}/lib -L${zlib_exp}/lib\" >> LOCAL.config    
-    echo X11=\"${libXt_dev}/include\" >> LOCAL.config
+    (
+        echo CC9=\"$(which $CC)\"
+        echo CFLAGS=\"$NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE\"
+        echo LDFLAGS=\"$(plan9portLinkFlags)\"
+        echo X11=\"${libXt_dev}/include\"
+        case "$system" in
+          x86_64-*) echo OBJTYPE=x86_64;;
+          i?86-*)   echo OBJTYPE=386;;
+          *power*)  echo OBJTYPE=power;;
+          *sparc*)  echo OBJTYPE=sparc;;
+          *) exit 12
+        esac
+        if [[ $system =~ .*linux.* ]]; then
+          echo SYSVERSION=2.6.x
+        fi
+    ) >config
 
     for f in `grep -l -r /usr/local/plan9`; do
         sed "s,/usr/local/plan9,${PLAN9},g" -i $f
@@ -17,15 +46,29 @@ configurePhase()
 buildPhase()
 {
     mkdir -p $PLAN9
-    ./INSTALL -b
+
+    # Copy sources, some necessary bin scripts
+    cp -R * $PLAN9
+
+    local originalPath="$PATH"
+    export PATH="$PLAN9/bin:$PATH"
+    export NPROC=$NIX_BUILD_CORES
+    pushd src
+    ../dist/buildmk
+    mk clean
+    mk libs-nuke
+    mk all
+    mk -k install
+    if [[ -f $PLAN9/bin/quote1 ]]; then
+        cp $PLAN9/bin/quote1 $PLAN9/bin/'"'
+        cp $PLAN9/bin/quote2 $PLAN9/bin/'""'
+    fi
+    popd
+    export PATH="$originalPath"
 }
 
 installPhase()
 {
-    ./INSTALL -c
-    # Copy sources
-    cp -R * $PLAN9
-
     # Copy the `9' utility. This way you can use
     # $ 9 awk
     # to use the plan 9 awk
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/system/plan9port/darwin-cfframework.patch b/pkgs/tools/system/plan9port/darwin-cfframework.patch
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..01541af92e37
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/tools/system/plan9port/darwin-cfframework.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+From d1f0bd3de7d3d54523aeefd9731ea850d20eaab4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
+From: Jason Felice <jason.m.felice@gmail.com>
+Date: Tue, 2 Jul 2019 13:19:23 -0400
+Subject: [PATCH] Need CoreFoundation
+
+---
+ src/cmd/devdraw/cocoa-screen.m | 1 +
+ 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)
+
+diff --git a/src/cmd/devdraw/cocoa-screen.m b/src/cmd/devdraw/cocoa-screen.m
+index 97128da2..0e380dd3 100644
+--- a/src/cmd/devdraw/cocoa-screen.m
++++ b/src/cmd/devdraw/cocoa-screen.m
+@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@
+ #endif
+ 
+ AUTOFRAMEWORK(Cocoa)
++AUTOFRAMEWORK(CoreFoundation)
+ 
+ #define LOG	if(0)NSLog
+ #define panic	sysfatal
+-- 
+2.21.0
+
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/system/plan9port/darwin-sw_vers.patch b/pkgs/tools/system/plan9port/darwin-sw_vers.patch
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..3e61c83e5403
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/tools/system/plan9port/darwin-sw_vers.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+From d21d082275f04f88eabcc8ecdb03ee932c71ebf1 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
+From: Jason Felice <jason.m.felice@gmail.com>
+Date: Mon, 1 Jul 2019 15:23:19 -0400
+Subject: [PATCH 2/3] Build for 10.12
+
+---
+ bin/osxvers                    | 3 +--
+ src/cmd/devdraw/mkwsysrules.sh | 4 ++--
+ 2 files changed, 3 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
+
+diff --git a/bin/osxvers b/bin/osxvers
+index 4af44da2..3be7e6e9 100755
+--- a/bin/osxvers
++++ b/bin/osxvers
+@@ -2,6 +2,5 @@
+ 
+ u=`uname`
+ case "$u" in
+-Darwin)
+-	sw_vers | awk '$1 == "ProductVersion:" {print $2}' | awk -F. '{printf("CFLAGS=$CFLAGS -DOSX_VERSION=%d%02d%02d\n", $1, $2, $3)}'
++Darwin) printf 'CFLAGS=$CFLAGS -DOSX_VERSION=101200\n';;
+ esac
+diff --git a/src/cmd/devdraw/mkwsysrules.sh b/src/cmd/devdraw/mkwsysrules.sh
+index e94afbd3..40e632db 100644
+--- a/src/cmd/devdraw/mkwsysrules.sh
++++ b/src/cmd/devdraw/mkwsysrules.sh
+@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ fi
+ 
+ if [ "x$WSYSTYPE" = "x" ]; then
+ 	if [ "x`uname`" = "xDarwin" ]; then
+-		if sw_vers | grep 'ProductVersion:	10\.[0-5]\.' >/dev/null; then
++		if false; then
+ 			echo 1>&2 'OS X 10.5 and older are not supported'
+ 			exit 1
+ 		else
+@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ if [ $WSYSTYPE = x11 ]; then
+ 	XO=`ls x11-*.c 2>/dev/null | sed 's/\.c$/.o/'`
+ 	echo 'WSYSOFILES=$WSYSOFILES '$XO
+ elif [ $WSYSTYPE = osx-cocoa ]; then
+-	if sw_vers|awk '/ProductVersion/{split($2,a,".");exit(a[2]<14)}' >/dev/null; then	# 0 is true in sh.
++	if false; then
+ 		echo 'OBJCFLAGS=$OBJCFLAGS -fobjc-arc'
+ 		echo 'WSYSOFILES=$WSYSOFILES osx-draw.o cocoa-screen-metal-objc.o cocoa-srv.o cocoa-thread.o'
+ 	else
+-- 
+2.21.0
+
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/system/plan9port/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/system/plan9port/default.nix
index b3909a79d942..1f5c6814e393 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/system/plan9port/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/system/plan9port/default.nix
@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
-{ stdenv, fetchFromGitHub, which, libX11, libXt, fontconfig, freetype
+{ stdenv, fetchFromGitHub, which
+, darwin ? null
 , xorgproto ? null
+, libX11
 , libXext ? null
-, zlib ? null
+, libXt ? null
+, fontconfig ? null
+, freetype ? null
 , perl ? null  # For building web manuals
 }:
 
@@ -17,6 +21,12 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     sha256 = "1lp17948q7vpl8rc2bf5a45bc8jqyj0s3zffmks9r25ai42vgb43";
   };
 
+  patches = [
+    ./tmpdir.patch
+    ./darwin-sw_vers.patch
+    ./darwin-cfframework.patch
+  ];
+
   postPatch = ''
     #hardcoded path
     substituteInPlace src/cmd/acme/acme.c \
@@ -35,30 +45,16 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   '';
 
   buildInputs = [
-    which perl libX11 fontconfig xorgproto libXt libXext
+    which perl
+  ] ++ stdenv.lib.optionals (!stdenv.isDarwin) [
+    xorgproto libX11 libXext libXt fontconfig
     freetype # fontsrv wants ft2build.h provides system fonts for acme and sam.
-  ];
+  ] ++ stdenv.lib.optionals stdenv.isDarwin (with darwin.apple_sdk.frameworks; [
+    darwin.cf-private Carbon Cocoa IOKit Metal QuartzCore
+  ]);
 
   builder = ./builder.sh;
-
-  libX11_dev = libX11.dev;
   libXt_dev = libXt.dev;
-  libXext_dev = libXext.dev;
-  fontconfig_dev = fontconfig.dev;
-  freetype_dev = freetype.dev;
-  zlib_dev = zlib.dev;
-
-  xorgproto_exp = xorgproto;
-  libX11_exp = libX11;
-  libXt_exp = libXt;
-  libXext_exp = libXext;
-  freetype_exp = freetype;
-  zlib_exp = zlib;
-
-  fontconfig_lib = fontconfig.lib;
-
-  NIX_LDFLAGS="-lgcc_s";
-  enableParallelBuilding = true;
 
   doInstallCheck = true;
   installCheckPhase = ''
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/system/plan9port/tmpdir.patch b/pkgs/tools/system/plan9port/tmpdir.patch
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e8200a177a27
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/tools/system/plan9port/tmpdir.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+From c762625549ff367b54bcd8281d1ce248a69b4401 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
+From: Jason Felice <jason.m.felice@gmail.com>
+Date: Mon, 1 Jul 2019 15:01:21 -0400
+Subject: [PATCH] Use $TMPDIR if available
+
+NixOS sandboxed builds (at least on Mac) don't have access to /tmp,
+and this should be better POSIX.
+---
+ bin/9c | 2 +-
+ bin/9l | 2 +-
+ 2 files changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
+
+diff --git a/bin/9c b/bin/9c
+index 3ffb716c..88c47887 100755
+--- a/bin/9c
++++ b/bin/9c
+@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ case "$tag" in
+ esac
+ 
+ # N.B. Must use temp file to avoid pipe; pipe loses status.
+-xtmp=/tmp/9c.$$.$USER.out
++xtmp=${TMPDIR-/tmp}/9c.$$.$USER.out
+ $cc -DPLAN9PORT -I$PLAN9/include $cflags "$@" 2>$xtmp
+ status=$?
+ quiet $xtmp
+diff --git a/bin/9l b/bin/9l
+index 6195815f..717a540a 100755
+--- a/bin/9l
++++ b/bin/9l
+@@ -346,7 +346,7 @@ then
+ 	echo $ld -L$PLAN9/lib "$@" $libsl $extralibs $frameworks
+ fi
+ 
+-xtmp=/tmp/9l.$$.$USER.out
++xtmp="${TMPDIR-/tmp}/9l.$$.$USER.out"
+ xxout() {
+ 	sed 's/.*: In function `[^:]*: *//' $xtmp | egrep . | 
+ 	egrep -v 'is (often|almost always) misused|is dangerous, better use|text-based stub' 
+-- 
+2.21.0
+