diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/torrent/transmission.nix b/nixos/modules/services/torrent/transmission.nix
index d32868f7f8eb..b5abfb717b70 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/torrent/transmission.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/torrent/transmission.nix
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ in
           #include <abstractions/nameservice>
 
           ${pkgs.glibc.out}/lib/*.so               mr,
-          ${pkgs.libevent}/lib/libevent*.so*   mr,
+          ${pkgs.libevent.out}/lib/libevent*.so*   mr,
           ${pkgs.curl}/lib/libcurl*.so*        mr,
           ${pkgs.openssl}/lib/libssl*.so*      mr,
           ${pkgs.openssl}/lib/libcrypto*.so*   mr,
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/libevent/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/libevent/default.nix
index 284a09bc9275..98185da168ad 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/libevent/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/libevent/default.nix
@@ -8,14 +8,14 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
     url = "mirror://sourceforge/levent/libevent-${version}-stable.tar.gz";
     sha256 = "18qz9qfwrkakmazdlwxvjmw8p76g70n3faikwvdwznns1agw9hki";
   };
+  postPatch = "patchShebangs event_rpcgen.py";
+
+  outputs = [ "dev" "out" ];
+  outputBin = "dev";
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [ autoreconfHook ];
   buildInputs = [ python ] ++ stdenv.lib.optional stdenv.isCygwin findutils;
 
-  patchPhase = ''
-    patchShebangs event_rpcgen.py
-  '';
-
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
     description = "Event notification library";
 
diff --git a/pkgs/servers/dns/nsd/default.nix b/pkgs/servers/dns/nsd/default.nix
index 218c7dc73f18..ed258f317881 100644
--- a/pkgs/servers/dns/nsd/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/servers/dns/nsd/default.nix
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
      ++ edf rootServer       "root-server"
      ++ edf rrtypes          "draft-rrtypes"
      ++ edf zoneStats        "zone-stats"
-     ++ [ "--with-ssl=${openssl}" "--with-libevent=${libevent}" ];
+     ++ [ "--with-ssl=${openssl.dev}" "--with-libevent=${libevent.dev}" ];
 
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
     homepage = http://www.nlnetlabs.nl;
diff --git a/pkgs/servers/mail/opensmtpd/default.nix b/pkgs/servers/mail/opensmtpd/default.nix
index 2fd3f0421b97..34de9c3674ba 100644
--- a/pkgs/servers/mail/opensmtpd/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/servers/mail/opensmtpd/default.nix
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     "--with-privsep-user=smtpd"
     "--with-queue-user=smtpq"
     "--with-ca-file=/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt"
-    "--with-libevent-dir=${libevent}"
+    "--with-libevent-dir=${libevent.dev}"
   ];
 
   installFlags = [
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/networking/nylon/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/networking/nylon/default.nix
index daeb7ffb57bb..fc89ea8db51b 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/networking/nylon/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/networking/nylon/default.nix
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
-{ stdenv, fetchurl, libevent }:
-
+{ stdenv, fetchurl, libevent, buildEnv }:
+let
+  # failed to find a better way to make it work
+  libevent-comb = buildEnv {
+    inherit (libevent.out) name;
+    paths = [ libevent.dev libevent.out ];
+  };
+in
 stdenv.mkDerivation {
   name = "nylon-1.21";
   src = fetchurl {
@@ -9,7 +15,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
 
   patches = [ ./configure-use-solib.patch ];
 
-  configureFlags = [ "--with-libevent=${libevent}" ];
+  configureFlags = [ "--with-libevent=${libevent-comb}" ];
 
   buildInputs = [ libevent ];
 
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/networking/p2p/seeks/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/networking/p2p/seeks/default.nix
index 28dce0f567e9..621e71c9eae2 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/networking/p2p/seeks/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/networking/p2p/seeks/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ fetchgit, stdenv, zlib, docbook2x, pcre, curl, libxml2, libevent, perl
+{ fetchgit, stdenv, zlib, bzip2, docbook2x, pcre, curl, libxml2, libevent, perl
 , pkgconfig, protobuf, tokyocabinet, tokyotyrant, opencv, autoconf, automake
 , libtool, seeks_confDir ? ""
 }:
@@ -13,14 +13,14 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   };
 
   buildInputs =
-    [ zlib docbook2x pcre curl libxml2 libevent perl pkgconfig
+    [ zlib bzip2 docbook2x pcre curl libxml2 libevent perl pkgconfig
       protobuf tokyocabinet tokyotyrant opencv autoconf automake libtool
     ];
 
   configureFlags =
     [ # Enable the built-in web server providing a web search interface.
       "--enable-httpserv-plugin=yes"
-      "--with-libevent=${libevent}"
+      "--with-libevent=${libevent.dev}"
     ];
 
   preConfigure = ''
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/networking/unbound/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/networking/unbound/default.nix
index ab37f30fb64d..c8a502d8c77c 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/networking/unbound/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/networking/unbound/default.nix
@@ -14,9 +14,9 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   buildInputs = [ openssl expat libevent ];
 
   configureFlags = [
-    "--with-ssl=${openssl}"
+    "--with-ssl=${openssl.dev}"
     "--with-libexpat=${expat}"
-    "--with-libevent=${libevent}"
+    "--with-libevent=${libevent.dev}"
     "--localstatedir=/var"
     "--sysconfdir=/etc"
   ];