diff --git a/gnu/packages/bioinformatics.scm b/gnu/packages/bioinformatics.scm
index a552686328..481a2a3bcb 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/bioinformatics.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/bioinformatics.scm
@@ -680,15 +680,10 @@ (define-public python-biopython
 common operations on them; code to perform data classification; code for
 dealing with alignments; code making it easy to split up parallelizable tasks
 into separate processes; and more.")
-    (license (license:non-copyleft "http://www.biopython.org/DIST/LICENSE"))
-    (properties `((python2-variant . ,(delay python2-biopython))))))
+    (license (license:non-copyleft "http://www.biopython.org/DIST/LICENSE"))))
 
 (define-public python2-biopython
-  (let ((base (package-with-python2 (strip-python2-variant python-biopython))))
-    (package
-      (inherit base)
-      (native-inputs `(("python2-setuptools" ,python2-setuptools)
-                       ,@(package-native-inputs base))))))
+  (package-with-python2 python-biopython))
 
 ;; An outdated version of biopython is required for seqmagick, see
 ;; https://github.com/fhcrc/seqmagick/issues/59
@@ -1427,7 +1422,6 @@ (define-public python-twobitreader
               (sha256
                (base32
                 "1q8wnj2kga9nz1lwc4w7qv52smfm536hp6mc8w6s53lhyj0mpi22"))))
-    (properties `((python2-variant . ,(delay python2-twobitreader))))
     (build-system python-build-system)
     (arguments
      '(;; Tests are not distributed in the PyPi release.
@@ -1444,11 +1438,7 @@ (define-public python-twobitreader
     (license license:artistic2.0)))
 
 (define-public python2-twobitreader
-  (let ((base (package-with-python2 (strip-python2-variant python-twobitreader))))
-    (package
-      (inherit base)
-      (native-inputs `(("python2-setuptools" ,python2-setuptools)
-                       ,@(package-native-inputs base))))))
+  (package-with-python2 python-twobitreader))
 
 (define-public python-plastid
   (package
@@ -1460,7 +1450,6 @@ (define-public python-plastid
               (sha256
                (base32
                 "1sqkz5d3b9kf688mp7k771c87ins42j7j0whmkb49cb3fsg8s8lj"))))
-    (properties `((python2-variant . ,(delay python2-plastid))))
     (build-system python-build-system)
     (arguments
      ;; Some test files are not included.
@@ -1485,12 +1474,7 @@ (define-public python-plastid
     (license license:bsd-3)))
 
 (define-public python2-plastid
-  (let ((base (package-with-python2 (strip-python2-variant python-plastid))))
-    (package
-      (inherit base)
-      ;; setuptools is required at runtime
-      (propagated-inputs `(("python2-setuptools" ,python2-setuptools)
-                           ,@(package-propagated-inputs base))))))
+  (package-with-python2 python-plastid))
 
 (define-public cd-hit
   (package
@@ -1939,10 +1923,7 @@ (define-public python-pybigwig
     (license license:expat)))
 
 (define-public python2-pybigwig
-  (let ((pybigwig (package-with-python2 python-pybigwig)))
-    (package (inherit pybigwig)
-      (native-inputs
-       `(("python-setuptools" ,python2-setuptools))))))
+  (package-with-python2 python-pybigwig))
 
 (define-public python-dendropy
   (package
@@ -4568,11 +4549,7 @@ (define-public python-screed
     (license license:bsd-3)))
 
 (define-public python2-screed
-  (let ((base (package-with-python2 (strip-python2-variant python-screed))))
-    (package
-      (inherit base)
-      (native-inputs `(("python2-setuptools" ,python2-setuptools)
-                       ,@(package-native-inputs base))))))
+  (package-with-python2 python-screed))
 
 (define-public sra-tools
   (package
diff --git a/gnu/packages/django.scm b/gnu/packages/django.scm
index 1ab2094dce..804f681e59 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/django.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/django.scm
@@ -148,16 +148,10 @@ (define-public python-pytest-django
     (synopsis "Django plugin for py.test")
     (description "Pytest-django is a plugin for py.test that provides a set of
 useful tools for testing Django applications and projects.")
-    (properties `((python2-variant . ,(delay python2-pytest-django))))
     (license license:bsd-3)))
 
 (define-public python2-pytest-django
-  (let ((base (package-with-python2
-                (strip-python2-variant python-pytest-django))))
-    (package (inherit base)
-      (native-inputs
-       `(("python2-setuptools" ,python2-setuptools)
-         ,@(package-native-inputs base))))))
+  (package-with-python2 python-pytest-django))
 
 (define-public python-django-filter
   (package
@@ -180,13 +174,7 @@ (define-public python-django-filter
 some of the more mundane bits of view code.  Specifically, it allows users to
 filter down a queryset based on a model’s fields, displaying the form to let
 them do this.")
-    (properties `((python2-variant . ,(delay python2-django-filter))))
     (license license:bsd-3)))
 
 (define-public python2-django-filter
-  (let ((base (package-with-python2
-                (strip-python2-variant python-django-filter))))
-    (package (inherit base)
-      (native-inputs
-       `(("python2-setuptools" ,python2-setuptools)
-         ,@(package-native-inputs base))))))
+  (package-with-python2 python-django-filter))
diff --git a/gnu/packages/gnupg.scm b/gnu/packages/gnupg.scm
index 82932489de..b160d04ff7 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/gnupg.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/gnupg.scm
@@ -417,12 +417,7 @@ (define-public python-pygpgme
     (license license:lgpl2.1+)))
 
 (define-public python2-pygpgme
-  (let ((base (package-with-python2 python-pygpgme)))
-    (package
-      (inherit base)
-      (native-inputs
-       `(("python2-setuptools" ,python2-setuptools)
-         ,@(package-native-inputs base))))))
+  (package-with-python2 python-pygpgme))
 
 (define-public python-gnupg
   (package
diff --git a/gnu/packages/mail.scm b/gnu/packages/mail.scm
index a152d50c36..b44555c04d 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/mail.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/mail.scm
@@ -1741,12 +1741,7 @@ (define-public python-mailmanclient
     (description
      "The mailmanclient library provides official Python bindings for
 the GNU Mailman 3 REST API.")
-    (properties `((python2-variant . ,(delay python2-mailmanclient))))
     (license lgpl3+)))
 
 (define-public python2-mailmanclient
-  (let ((base (package-with-python2
-               (strip-python2-variant python-mailmanclient))))
-    (package (inherit base)
-      (native-inputs
-       `(("python2-setuptools" ,python2-setuptools))))))
+  (package-with-python2 python-mailmanclient))
diff --git a/gnu/packages/mpd.scm b/gnu/packages/mpd.scm
index ec0861db11..83d99778ed 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/mpd.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/mpd.scm
@@ -257,15 +257,10 @@ (define-public python-mpd2
     (synopsis "Python MPD client library")
     (description "Python-mpd2 is a Python library which provides a client
 interface for the Music Player Daemon.")
-    (license license:lgpl3+)
-    (properties `((python2-variant . ,(delay python2-mpd2))))))
+    (license license:lgpl3+)))
 
 (define-public python2-mpd2
-  (let ((mpd2 (package-with-python2
-               (strip-python2-variant python-mpd2))))
-    (package (inherit mpd2)
-      (native-inputs `(("python2-setuptools" ,python2-setuptools)
-                       ,@(package-native-inputs mpd2))))))
+  (package-with-python2 python-mpd2))
 
 (define-public sonata
   (package
diff --git a/gnu/packages/music.scm b/gnu/packages/music.scm
index d25c9c419a..61bcd3785b 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/music.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/music.scm
@@ -1829,16 +1829,10 @@ (define-public python-pylast
     (synopsis "Python interface to Last.fm and Libre.fm")
     (description "A Python interface to Last.fm and other API-compatible
 websites such as Libre.fm.")
-    (license license:asl2.0)
-    (properties `((python2-variant . ,(delay python2-pylast))))))
+    (license license:asl2.0)))
 
 (define-public python2-pylast
-  (let ((pylast (package-with-python2
-                 (strip-python2-variant python-pylast))))
-    (package (inherit pylast)
-      (native-inputs
-       `(("python2-setuptools" ,python2-setuptools)
-         ,@(package-native-inputs pylast))))))
+  (package-with-python2 python-pylast))
 
 (define-public beets
   (package
diff --git a/gnu/packages/openstack.scm b/gnu/packages/openstack.scm
index 930ce9eceb..8cf3b957a7 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/openstack.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/openstack.scm
@@ -261,16 +261,10 @@ (define-public python-requests-mock
     (description
       "This module provides a building block to stub out the HTTP requests
 portions of your testing code.")
-    (license asl2.0)
-    (properties `((python2-variant . ,(delay python2-requests-mock))))))
+    (license asl2.0)))
 
 (define-public python2-requests-mock
-  (let ((base (package-with-python2
-                (strip-python2-variant python-requests-mock))))
-    (package (inherit base)
-      (native-inputs
-       `(("python2-setuptools" ,python2-setuptools)
-         ,@(package-native-inputs base))))))
+  (package-with-python2 python-requests-mock))
 
 (define-public python-stevedore
   (package
@@ -808,8 +802,4 @@ (define-public python-git-review
     (license asl2.0)))
 
 (define-public python2-git-review
-  (let ((base (package-with-python2 (strip-python2-variant python-git-review))))
-    (package (inherit base)
-             (native-inputs
-              `(("python2-setuptools" ,python2-setuptools)
-                ,@(package-native-inputs base))))))
+  (package-with-python2 python-git-review))
diff --git a/gnu/packages/password-utils.scm b/gnu/packages/password-utils.scm
index d6bc00c8f2..2e3c3b0632 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/password-utils.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/password-utils.scm
@@ -375,8 +375,4 @@ (define-public python-bcrypt
     (license license:asl2.0)))
 
 (define-public python2-bcrypt
-  (let ((bcrypt (package-with-python2 python-bcrypt)))
-    (package (inherit bcrypt)
-      (native-inputs
-       `(("python2-setuptools" ,python2-setuptools)
-         ,@(package-native-inputs bcrypt))))))
+  (package-with-python2 python-bcrypt))
diff --git a/gnu/packages/protobuf.scm b/gnu/packages/protobuf.scm
index 586e532746..f4e9e88233 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/protobuf.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/protobuf.scm
@@ -70,10 +70,7 @@ (define-public python-protobuf
     (description
      "Protocol buffers are a language-neutral, platform-neutral extensible
 mechanism for serializing structured data.")
-    (license bsd-3)
-    (properties `((python2-variant . ,(delay python2-protobuf))))))
+    (license bsd-3)))
 
 (define-public python2-protobuf
-  (package (inherit (package-with-python2
-                     (strip-python2-variant python-protobuf)))
-           (native-inputs `(("python2-setuptools" ,python2-setuptools)))))
+  (package-with-python2 python-protobuf))
diff --git a/gnu/packages/statistics.scm b/gnu/packages/statistics.scm
index a19d6000d4..950c3ec64f 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/statistics.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/statistics.scm
@@ -1416,15 +1416,10 @@ (define-public python-patsy
     ;; The majority of the code is distributed under BSD-2.  The module
     ;; patsy.compat contains code derived from the Python standard library,
     ;; and is covered by the PSFL.
-    (license (list license:bsd-2 license:psfl))
-    (properties `((python2-variant . ,(delay python2-patsy))))))
+    (license (list license:bsd-2 license:psfl))))
 
 (define-public python2-patsy
-  (let ((patsy (package-with-python2 (strip-python2-variant python-patsy))))
-    (package (inherit patsy)
-      (native-inputs
-       `(("python2-setuptools" ,python2-setuptools)
-         ,@(package-native-inputs patsy))))))
+  (package-with-python2 python-patsy))
 
 (define-public python-statsmodels
   (package
diff --git a/gnu/packages/web.scm b/gnu/packages/web.scm
index 81f861a905..e0c09ed396 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/web.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/web.scm
@@ -3172,11 +3172,7 @@ (define-public python-feedparser
                    l:freebsd-doc)))) ; documentation
 
 (define-public python2-feedparser
-  (let ((base (package-with-python2
-               (strip-python2-variant python-feedparser))))
-    (package (inherit base)
-             (native-inputs
-              `(("python2-setuptools" ,python2-setuptools))))))
+  (package-with-python2 python-feedparser))
 
 (define-public r-httpuv
   (package