diff --git a/lib/attrsets.nix b/lib/attrsets.nix
index 84f6cb3658b9..e3721bd1e94c 100644
--- a/lib/attrsets.nix
+++ b/lib/attrsets.nix
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ rec {
 
 
   /* Like `mapAttrsRecursive', but it takes an additional predicate
-     function that tells it whether to recursive into an attribute
+     function that tells it whether to recurse into an attribute
      set.  If it returns false, `mapAttrsRecursiveCond' does not
      recurse, but does apply the map function.  It is returns true, it
      does recurse, and does not apply the map function.
diff --git a/nixos/modules/programs/ssh.nix b/nixos/modules/programs/ssh.nix
index 169c6a38e75b..1ad45f468030 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/programs/ssh.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/programs/ssh.nix
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ in
 
       askPassword = mkOption {
         type = types.str;
+        default = "${pkgs.x11_ssh_askpass}/libexec/x11-ssh-askpass";
         description = ''Program used by SSH to ask for passwords.'';
       };
 
@@ -226,7 +227,5 @@ in
 
     environment.variables.SSH_ASKPASS = optionalString config.services.xserver.enable askPassword;
 
-    programs.ssh.askPassword = mkDefault "${pkgs.x11_ssh_askpass}/libexec/x11-ssh-askpass";
-
   };
 }
diff --git a/nixos/modules/programs/venus.nix b/nixos/modules/programs/venus.nix
index c3756b4838c7..5c322c5589fc 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/programs/venus.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/programs/venus.nix
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@ in
       };
 
       outputTheme = mkOption {
+        default = "${pkgs.venus}/themes/classic_fancy";
         type = types.path;
         description = ''
           Directory containing a config.ini file which is merged with this one.
@@ -169,7 +170,5 @@ in
         startAt = cfg.dates;
       };
 
-    services.venus.outputTheme = mkDefault "${pkgs.venus}/themes/classic_fancy";
-
   };
 }
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/amqp/activemq/default.nix b/nixos/modules/services/amqp/activemq/default.nix
index 56ff388f8a9e..261f97617664 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/amqp/activemq/default.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/amqp/activemq/default.nix
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ in {
         '';
       };
       configurationDir = mkOption {
+        default = "${activemq}/conf";
         description = ''
           The base directory for ActiveMQ's configuration.
           By default, this directory is searched for a file named activemq.xml,
@@ -125,8 +126,6 @@ in {
       '';
     };
 
-    services.activemq.configurationDir = mkDefault "${activemq}/conf";
-
   };
 
 }
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/misc/nixos-manual.nix b/nixos/modules/services/misc/nixos-manual.nix
index 3e1f53e79f3e..2aa8f4a06cc9 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/misc/nixos-manual.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/misc/nixos-manual.nix
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ in
 
     services.nixosManual.browser = mkOption {
       type = types.path;
+      default = "${pkgs.w3m-nox}/bin/w3m";
       description = ''
         Browser used to show the manual.
       '';
@@ -117,8 +118,6 @@ in
     services.mingetty.helpLine = mkIf cfg.showManual
       "\nPress <Alt-F${toString cfg.ttyNumber}> for the NixOS manual.";
 
-    services.nixosManual.browser = mkDefault "${pkgs.w3m-nox}/bin/w3m";
-
   };
 
 }
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/misc/subsonic.nix b/nixos/modules/services/misc/subsonic.nix
index 2831e95b9480..020d53a481de 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/misc/subsonic.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/misc/subsonic.nix
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ in
 
       transcoders = mkOption {
         type = types.listOf types.path;
+        default = [ "${pkgs.ffmpeg}/bin/ffmpeg" ];
         description = ''
           List of paths to transcoder executables that should be accessible
           from Subsonic. Symlinks will be created to each executable inside
@@ -152,8 +153,5 @@ in
     };
 
     users.extraGroups.subsonic.gid = config.ids.gids.subsonic;
-
-    services.subsonic.transcoders = mkDefault [ "${pkgs.ffmpeg}/bin/ffmpeg" ];
-
   };
 }
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/monitoring/grafana.nix b/nixos/modules/services/monitoring/grafana.nix
index 0b49038dd273..1dec528b5a2c 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/monitoring/grafana.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/monitoring/grafana.nix
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ in {
 
     staticRootPath = mkOption {
       description = "Root path for static assets.";
+      default = "${cfg.package.out}/share/grafana/public";
       type = types.str;
     };
 
@@ -232,8 +233,5 @@ in {
       home = cfg.dataDir;
       createHome = true;
     };
-
-    services.grafana.staticRootPath = mkDefault "${cfg.package}/share/grafana/public";
-
   };
 }
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/networking/dnscrypt-proxy.nix b/nixos/modules/services/networking/dnscrypt-proxy.nix
index 218bce2dbb31..c724ee979c2d 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/networking/dnscrypt-proxy.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/networking/dnscrypt-proxy.nix
@@ -52,7 +52,10 @@ in
         default = "opendns";
         type = types.nullOr types.string;
         description = ''
-          The name of the upstream DNSCrypt resolver to use.
+          The name of the upstream DNSCrypt resolver to use. See
+          <literal>${resolverListFile}</literal> for alternative resolvers
+          (e.g., if you are concerned about logging and/or server
+          location).
         '';
       };
       customResolver = mkOption {
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/web-servers/phpfpm.nix b/nixos/modules/services/web-servers/phpfpm.nix
index bdd41ed702b5..277180fe139d 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/web-servers/phpfpm.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/web-servers/phpfpm.nix
@@ -46,7 +46,8 @@ in {
 
       phpIni = mkOption {
         type = types.path;
-        description = "PHP configuration file to use.";
+        default = "${cfg.phpPackage}/etc/php-recommended.ini";
+        description = "php.ini file to use.";
       };
 
       poolConfigs = mkOption {
@@ -87,7 +88,5 @@ in {
       };
     };
 
-    services.phpfpm.phpIni = mkDefault "${cfg.phpPackage}/etc/php-recommended.ini";
-
   };
 }
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/x11/display-managers/lightdm.nix b/nixos/modules/services/x11/display-managers/lightdm.nix
index 3949bf01a316..ac7db3d9adc4 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/x11/display-managers/lightdm.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/x11/display-managers/lightdm.nix
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ in
 
       background = mkOption {
         type = types.str;
+        default = "${pkgs.nixos-artwork}/share/artwork/gnome/Gnome_Dark.png";
         description = ''
           The background image or color to use.
         '';
@@ -152,9 +153,6 @@ in
     };
 
     users.extraGroups.lightdm.gid = config.ids.gids.lightdm;
-
-    services.xserver.displayManager.lightdm.background = mkDefault "${pkgs.nixos-artwork}/share/artwork/gnome/Gnome_Dark.png";
-
     services.xserver.tty     = null; # We might start multiple X servers so let the tty increment themselves..
     services.xserver.display = null; # We specify our own display (and logfile) in xserver-wrapper up there
   };
diff --git a/nixos/release.nix b/nixos/release.nix
index d9f3e46b27c0..71317c32b98d 100644
--- a/nixos/release.nix
+++ b/nixos/release.nix
@@ -92,15 +92,33 @@ let
   }).config));
 
 
+  cleanConfig = import ./lib/eval-config.nix {
+    system = "x86_64-linux";
+    modules = [ ];
+    pkgs = with pkgs.lib;
+      let
+        scrubDerivations = namePrefix: pkgSet: mapAttrs
+          (name: value:
+            let wholeName = "${namePrefix}.${name}"; in
+            if isAttrs value then
+              scrubDerivations wholeName value
+              // (optionalAttrs (isDerivation value) { outPath = "\${${wholeName}}"; })
+            else value
+          )
+          pkgSet;
+      in scrubDerivations "pkgs" pkgs;
+  };
+  docs = (import ./doc/manual) {
+    inherit pkgs version;
+    revision = versionModule.system.nixosRevision;
+    inherit (cleanConfig) options;
+  };
+
 in rec {
 
   channel = import lib/make-channel.nix { inherit pkgs nixpkgs version versionSuffix; };
 
-  manual = buildFromConfig ({ pkgs, ... }: { }) (config: config.system.build.manual.manual);
-  manualPDF = (buildFromConfig ({ pkgs, ... }: { }) (config: config.system.build.manual.manualPDF)).x86_64-linux;
-  manpages = buildFromConfig ({ pkgs, ... }: { }) (config: config.system.build.manual.manpages);
-  options = (buildFromConfig ({ pkgs, ... }: { }) (config: config.system.build.manual.optionsJSON)).x86_64-linux;
-
+  inherit (docs) manual manualPDF manpages optionsJSON;
 
   # Build the initial ramdisk so Hydra can keep track of its size over time.
   initialRamdisk = buildFromConfig ({ pkgs, ... }: { }) (config: config.system.build.initialRamdisk);