diff --git a/guix/packages.scm b/guix/packages.scm
index b00fa2f702..da8b66dfa6 100644
--- a/guix/packages.scm
+++ b/guix/packages.scm
@@ -56,7 +56,6 @@ (define-module (guix packages)
   #:re-export (%current-system
                %current-target-system
                search-path-specification)         ;for convenience
-  #:re-export-and-replace (delete)                ;used as syntactic keyword
   #:replace ((define-public* . define-public))
   #:export (content-hash
             content-hash?
@@ -181,6 +180,11 @@ (define-module (guix packages)
             package->cross-derivation
             origin->derivation))
 
+;; The 'source-module-closure' procedure ca. 1.2.0 did not recognize
+;; #:re-export-and-replace: <https://issues.guix.gnu.org/52694>.
+;; Work around it.
+(module-re-export! (current-module) '(delete) #:replace? #t)
+
 ;;; Commentary:
 ;;;
 ;;; This module provides a high-level mechanism to define packages in a