diff --git a/doc/default.nix b/doc/default.nix
index 76aba1a03eaf2..a1a696a863ee6 100644
--- a/doc/default.nix
+++ b/doc/default.nix
@@ -5,8 +5,12 @@ let
 
   common = import ./common.nix;
 
-  lib-docs = import ./doc-support/lib-function-docs.nix {
+  lib-docs = import ./doc-support/generate-function-docs.nix {
     inherit pkgs nixpkgs;
+    library = pkgs.lib;
+    src = ../lib;
+    name = "nixpkgs-lib-docs";
+    prefix = "lib";
     libsets = [
       { name = "asserts"; description = "assertion functions"; }
       { name = "attrsets"; description = "attribute set functions"; }
diff --git a/doc/doc-support/lib-function-docs.nix b/doc/doc-support/generate-function-docs.nix
similarity index 53%
rename from doc/doc-support/lib-function-docs.nix
rename to doc/doc-support/generate-function-docs.nix
index 5faa99b3e89e0..4d090cd68bdf1 100644
--- a/doc/doc-support/lib-function-docs.nix
+++ b/doc/doc-support/generate-function-docs.nix
@@ -1,27 +1,31 @@
 # Generates the documentation for library functions via nixdoc.
 
-{ pkgs, nixpkgs, libsets }:
+{ pkgs, nixpkgs, libsets, library, src, name, prefix }:
 
 with pkgs;
 
 let
-  locationsJSON = import ./lib-function-locations.nix { inherit pkgs nixpkgs libsets; };
+  locationsJSON = import ./lib-function-locations.nix { inherit pkgs nixpkgs libsets library prefix; };
 in
 stdenv.mkDerivation {
-  name = "nixpkgs-lib-docs";
-  src = ../../lib;
+  inherit src name;
 
   buildInputs = [ nixdoc ];
+  env = {
+    # lower case $prefix is written by setup.sh for ./configure when empty
+    PREFIX = prefix;
+    PREFIXDOT = if prefix == "" then "" else "${prefix}.";
+  };
   installPhase = ''
     function docgen {
       name=$1
       baseName=$2
       description=$3
-      # TODO: wrap lib.$name in <literal>, make nixdoc not escape it
+      # TODO: wrap ${prefix}$name in <literal>, make nixdoc not escape it
       if [[ -e "../lib/$baseName.nix" ]]; then
-        nixdoc -c "$name" -d "lib.$name: $description" -l ${locationsJSON} -f "$baseName.nix" > "$out/$name.md"
+        nixdoc -c "$name" -d "$PREFIXDOT$name: $description" -l ${locationsJSON} -f "$baseName.nix" --prefix "$PREFIX" > "$out/$name.md"
       else
-        nixdoc -c "$name" -d "lib.$name: $description" -l ${locationsJSON} -f "$baseName/default.nix" > "$out/$name.md"
+        nixdoc -c "$name" -d "$PREFIXDOT$name: $description" -l ${locationsJSON} -f "$baseName/default.nix" --prefix "$PREFIX" > "$out/$name.md"
       fi
       echo "$out/$name.md" >> "$out/index.md"
     }
diff --git a/doc/doc-support/lib-function-locations.nix b/doc/doc-support/lib-function-locations.nix
index e6794617fdd89..98a10d865226d 100644
--- a/doc/doc-support/lib-function-locations.nix
+++ b/doc/doc-support/lib-function-locations.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,11 @@
-{ pkgs, nixpkgs ? { }, libsets }:
+{ pkgs,
+  nixpkgs ? { },
+  # Metadata about the structure of the library in the form of a list of sub-libraries
+  libsets,
+  # An instance of the library, as one may use it. This is used for retrieving the locations with `builtins.unsafeGetAttrPos`.
+  library,
+  prefix,
+}:
 let
   revision = pkgs.lib.trivial.revisionWithDefault (nixpkgs.rev or "master");
 
@@ -22,10 +29,12 @@ let
 
   nixpkgsLib = pkgs.lib;
 
+  prefixDot = if prefix == "" then "" else prefix + ".";
+
   flattenedLibSubset = { subsetname, functions }:
   builtins.map
     (fn: {
-      name = "lib.${subsetname}.${fn.name}";
+      name = "${prefixDot}${subsetname}.${fn.name}";
       value = fn.location;
     })
     functions;
@@ -44,7 +53,7 @@ let
     builtins.filter
       (elem: elem.value != null)
       (nixpkgsLib.lists.flatten
-        (locatedlibsets nixpkgsLib));
+        (locatedlibsets library));
 
   fnLocationRelative = { name, value }:
     {