diff --git a/src/libstore/build.cc b/src/libstore/build.cc
index cec03fee42..7a78d55570 100644
--- a/src/libstore/build.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/build.cc
@@ -2013,6 +2013,26 @@ void DerivationGoal::initChild()
                     throw SysError(format("unable to make filesystem `%1%' private") % fs);
             }
 
+            /* Set up a nearly empty /dev, unless the user asked to
+               bind-mount the host /dev. */
+            if (dirsInChroot.find("/dev") == dirsInChroot.end()) {
+                createDirs(chrootRootDir + "/dev/shm");
+                Strings ss;
+                ss.push_back("/dev/full");
+                ss.push_back("/dev/kvm");
+                ss.push_back("/dev/null");
+                ss.push_back("/dev/ptmx");
+                ss.push_back("/dev/random");
+                ss.push_back("/dev/tty");
+                ss.push_back("/dev/urandom");
+                ss.push_back("/dev/zero");
+                foreach (Strings::iterator, i, ss) dirsInChroot[*i] = *i;
+                createSymlink("/proc/self/fd", chrootRootDir + "/dev/fd");
+                createSymlink("/proc/self/fd/0", chrootRootDir + "/dev/stdin");
+                createSymlink("/proc/self/fd/1", chrootRootDir + "/dev/stdout");
+                createSymlink("/proc/self/fd/2", chrootRootDir + "/dev/stderr");
+            }
+
             /* Bind-mount all the directories from the "host"
                filesystem that we want in the chroot
                environment. */
@@ -2042,9 +2062,8 @@ void DerivationGoal::initChild()
 
             /* Mount a new tmpfs on /dev/shm to ensure that whatever
                the builder puts in /dev/shm is cleaned up automatically. */
-            if (pathExists("/dev/shm"))
-                if (mount("none", (chrootRootDir + "/dev/shm").c_str(), "tmpfs", 0, 0) == -1)
-                    throw SysError("mounting /dev/shm");
+            if (pathExists("/dev/shm") && mount("none", (chrootRootDir + "/dev/shm").c_str(), "tmpfs", 0, 0) == -1)
+                throw SysError("mounting /dev/shm");
 
             /* Do the chroot().  Below we do a chdir() to the
                temporary build directory to make sure the current
diff --git a/src/libstore/gc.cc b/src/libstore/gc.cc
index 79bd7d56b3..e855e86854 100644
--- a/src/libstore/gc.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/gc.cc
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ int LocalStore::openGCLock(LockType lockType)
 }
 
 
-void createSymlink(const Path & link, const Path & target)
+static void makeSymlink(const Path & link, const Path & target)
 {
     /* Create directories up to `gcRoot'. */
     createDirs(dirOf(link));
@@ -61,9 +61,7 @@ void createSymlink(const Path & link, const Path & target)
     /* Create the new symlink. */
     Path tempLink = (format("%1%.tmp-%2%-%3%")
         % link % getpid() % rand()).str();
-    if (symlink(target.c_str(), tempLink.c_str()) == -1)
-        throw SysError(format("symlinking `%1%' to `%2%'")
-            % tempLink % target);
+    createSymlink(target, tempLink);
 
     /* Atomically replace the old one. */
     if (rename(tempLink.c_str(), link.c_str()) == -1)
@@ -83,7 +81,7 @@ void LocalStore::addIndirectRoot(const Path & path)
     string hash = printHash32(hashString(htSHA1, path));
     Path realRoot = canonPath((format("%1%/%2%/auto/%3%")
         % settings.nixStateDir % gcRootsDir % hash).str());
-    createSymlink(realRoot, path);
+    makeSymlink(realRoot, path);
 }
 
 
@@ -104,7 +102,7 @@ Path addPermRoot(StoreAPI & store, const Path & _storePath,
            point to the Nix store. */
         if (pathExists(gcRoot) && (!isLink(gcRoot) || !isInStore(readLink(gcRoot))))
             throw Error(format("cannot create symlink `%1%'; already exists") % gcRoot);
-        createSymlink(gcRoot, storePath);
+        makeSymlink(gcRoot, storePath);
         store.addIndirectRoot(gcRoot);
     }
 
@@ -119,7 +117,7 @@ Path addPermRoot(StoreAPI & store, const Path & _storePath,
                     % gcRoot % rootsDir);
         }
 
-        createSymlink(gcRoot, storePath);
+        makeSymlink(gcRoot, storePath);
     }
 
     /* Check that the root can be found by the garbage collector.
diff --git a/src/libstore/globals.cc b/src/libstore/globals.cc
index ccf8d4cc5e..af2fdfd57a 100644
--- a/src/libstore/globals.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/globals.cc
@@ -42,7 +42,6 @@ Settings::Settings()
     useSubstitutes = true;
     useChroot = false;
     useSshSubstituter = false;
-    dirsInChroot.insert("/dev");
     dirsInChroot.insert("/dev/pts");
     impersonateLinux26 = false;
     keepLog = true;
diff --git a/src/libstore/local-store.cc b/src/libstore/local-store.cc
index aca98412ae..1293a6e8f2 100644
--- a/src/libstore/local-store.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/local-store.cc
@@ -243,8 +243,7 @@ LocalStore::LocalStore(bool reserveSpace)
     Path gcRootsDir = settings.nixStateDir + "/gcroots";
     if (!pathExists(gcRootsDir)) {
         createDirs(gcRootsDir);
-        if (symlink(profilesDir.c_str(), (gcRootsDir + "/profiles").c_str()) == -1)
-            throw SysError(format("creating symlink to `%1%'") % profilesDir);
+        createSymlink(profilesDir, gcRootsDir + "/profiles");
     }
 
     checkStoreNotSymlink();
diff --git a/src/libutil/archive.cc b/src/libutil/archive.cc
index b19ff4bf99..ab4cd47351 100644
--- a/src/libutil/archive.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/archive.cc
@@ -319,8 +319,7 @@ struct RestoreSink : ParseSink
     void createSymlink(const Path & path, const string & target)
     {
         Path p = dstPath + path;
-        if (symlink(target.c_str(), p.c_str()) == -1)
-            throw SysError(format("creating symlink `%1%'") % p);
+        nix::createSymlink(target, p);
     }
 };
 
diff --git a/src/libutil/util.cc b/src/libutil/util.cc
index 740d767a4e..b264fc5f3d 100644
--- a/src/libutil/util.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/util.cc
@@ -386,6 +386,13 @@ Paths createDirs(const Path & path)
 }
 
 
+void createSymlink(const Path & target, const Path & link)
+{
+    if (symlink(target.c_str(), link.c_str()))
+        throw SysError(format("creating symlink from `%1%' to `%2%'") % link % target);
+}
+
+
 LogType logType = ltPretty;
 Verbosity verbosity = lvlInfo;
 
diff --git a/src/libutil/util.hh b/src/libutil/util.hh
index 0351220c2a..5d0408f9b5 100644
--- a/src/libutil/util.hh
+++ b/src/libutil/util.hh
@@ -93,6 +93,9 @@ Path createTempDir(const Path & tmpRoot = "", const Path & prefix = "nix",
    list of created directories, in order of creation. */
 Paths createDirs(const Path & path);
 
+/* Create a symlink. */
+void createSymlink(const Path & target, const Path & link);
+
 
 template<class T, class A>
 T singleton(const A & a)
diff --git a/src/nix-env/profiles.cc b/src/nix-env/profiles.cc
index c327993594..f7b306890d 100644
--- a/src/nix-env/profiles.cc
+++ b/src/nix-env/profiles.cc
@@ -118,8 +118,7 @@ void switchLink(Path link, Path target)
     if (dirOf(target) == dirOf(link)) target = baseNameOf(target);
 
     Path tmp = canonPath(dirOf(link) + "/.new_" + baseNameOf(link));
-    if (symlink(target.c_str(), tmp.c_str()) != 0)
-        throw SysError(format("creating symlink `%1%'") % tmp);
+    createSymlink(target, tmp);
     /* The rename() system call is supposed to be essentially atomic
        on Unix.  That is, if we have links `current -> X' and
        `new_current -> Y', and we rename new_current to current, a