diff --git a/flake/dev/devshell.nix b/flake/dev/devshell.nix
index a56669f07a..e7158a9501 100644
--- a/flake/dev/devshell.nix
+++ b/flake/dev/devshell.nix
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 { lib, inputs, ... }:
 {
   imports = [
-    inputs.devshell.flakeModule
+    (inputs.devshell + "/flake-module.nix")
   ];
 
   perSystem =
diff --git a/flake/dev/flake.lock b/flake/dev/flake.lock
index 9345631417..924e589ec5 100644
--- a/flake/dev/flake.lock
+++ b/flake/dev/flake.lock
@@ -17,11 +17,7 @@
       }
     },
     "devshell": {
-      "inputs": {
-        "nixpkgs": [
-          "dev-nixpkgs"
-        ]
-      },
+      "flake": false,
       "locked": {
         "lastModified": 1768818222,
         "narHash": "sha256-460jc0+CZfyaO8+w8JNtlClB2n4ui1RbHfPTLkpwhU8=",
@@ -37,6 +33,7 @@
       }
     },
     "flake-compat": {
+      "flake": false,
       "locked": {
         "lastModified": 1767039857,
         "narHash": "sha256-vNpUSpF5Nuw8xvDLj2KCwwksIbjua2LZCqhV1LNRDns=",
@@ -70,15 +67,7 @@
       }
     },
     "git-hooks": {
-      "inputs": {
-        "flake-compat": [
-          "flake-compat"
-        ],
-        "gitignore": "gitignore",
-        "nixpkgs": [
-          "dev-nixpkgs"
-        ]
-      },
+      "flake": false,
       "locked": {
         "lastModified": 1778507602,
         "narHash": "sha256-kTwur1wV+01SdqskVMSo6JMEpg71ps3HpbFY2GsflKs=",
@@ -93,33 +82,8 @@
         "type": "github"
       }
     },
-    "gitignore": {
-      "inputs": {
-        "nixpkgs": [
-          "git-hooks",
-          "nixpkgs"
-        ]
-      },
-      "locked": {
-        "lastModified": 1709087332,
-        "narHash": "sha256-HG2cCnktfHsKV0s4XW83gU3F57gaTljL9KNSuG6bnQs=",
-        "owner": "hercules-ci",
-        "repo": "gitignore.nix",
-        "rev": "637db329424fd7e46cf4185293b9cc8c88c95394",
-        "type": "github"
-      },
-      "original": {
-        "owner": "hercules-ci",
-        "repo": "gitignore.nix",
-        "type": "github"
-      }
-    },
     "home-manager": {
-      "inputs": {
-        "nixpkgs": [
-          "dev-nixpkgs"
-        ]
-      },
+      "flake": false,
       "locked": {
         "lastModified": 1778850834,
         "narHash": "sha256-JB+iK+5p0m3Jx9Zi9vQO2d3BR07dbW3UqpgOhUXix3s=",
@@ -161,11 +125,7 @@
       }
     },
     "nix-darwin": {
-      "inputs": {
-        "nixpkgs": [
-          "dev-nixpkgs"
-        ]
-      },
+      "flake": false,
       "locked": {
         "lastModified": 1777780666,
         "narHash": "sha256-8wURyQMdDkGUarSTKOGdCuFfYiwa3HbzwscUfn3STDE=",
@@ -231,11 +191,7 @@
       }
     },
     "treefmt-nix": {
-      "inputs": {
-        "nixpkgs": [
-          "dev-nixpkgs"
-        ]
-      },
+      "flake": false,
       "locked": {
         "lastModified": 1775636079,
         "narHash": "sha256-pc20NRoMdiar8oPQceQT47UUZMBTiMdUuWrYu2obUP0=",
diff --git a/flake/dev/flake.nix b/flake/dev/flake.nix
index a1767420a3..b61398c6eb 100644
--- a/flake/dev/flake.nix
+++ b/flake/dev/flake.nix
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 {
   description = "Private inputs for development purposes. These are used by the top level flake in the `dev` partition, but do not appear in consumers' lock files.";
 
+  # Avoid `flake = true` when we do not need to evaluate flake outputs or fetch flake inputs.
+  # e.g. when we only import loose files.
   inputs = {
     # NOTE: Use a different name to the root flake's inputs.nixpkgs to avoid shadowing it.
     # NOTE: The only reason we specify a nixpkgs input at all here, is so the other inputs can follow it.
@@ -8,28 +10,30 @@
     dev-nixpkgs.url = "github:NixOS/nixpkgs/nixpkgs-unstable";
 
     # flake-compat is used by the root `default.nix` to allow non-flake users to import nixvim
-    flake-compat.url = "github:NixOS/flake-compat";
+    flake-compat = {
+      url = "github:NixOS/flake-compat";
+      flake = false;
+    };
 
     # keep-sorted start block=yes newline_separated=yes
     devshell = {
       url = "github:numtide/devshell";
-      inputs.nixpkgs.follows = "dev-nixpkgs";
+      flake = false;
     };
 
     git-hooks = {
       url = "github:cachix/git-hooks.nix";
-      inputs.nixpkgs.follows = "dev-nixpkgs";
-      inputs.flake-compat.follows = "flake-compat";
+      flake = false;
     };
 
     home-manager = {
       url = "github:nix-community/home-manager";
-      inputs.nixpkgs.follows = "dev-nixpkgs";
+      flake = false;
     };
 
     nix-darwin = {
       url = "github:lnl7/nix-darwin";
-      inputs.nixpkgs.follows = "dev-nixpkgs";
+      flake = false;
     };
 
     nuschtosSearch = {
@@ -40,7 +44,7 @@
 
     treefmt-nix = {
       url = "github:numtide/treefmt-nix";
-      inputs.nixpkgs.follows = "dev-nixpkgs";
+      flake = false;
     };
 
     # keep-sorted end
diff --git a/flake/dev/fmt.nix b/flake/dev/fmt.nix
index 07bad8333b..cf192c0345 100644
--- a/flake/dev/fmt.nix
+++ b/flake/dev/fmt.nix
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 { inputs, ... }:
 {
   imports = [
-    inputs.treefmt-nix.flakeModule
+    (inputs.treefmt-nix + "/flake-module.nix")
   ];
 
   perSystem =
diff --git a/flake/dev/git-hooks.nix b/flake/dev/git-hooks.nix
index 7dd4c0b037..a50acb1328 100644
--- a/flake/dev/git-hooks.nix
+++ b/flake/dev/git-hooks.nix
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 { inputs, ... }:
 {
   imports = [
-    inputs.git-hooks.flakeModule
+    (inputs.git-hooks + "/flake-module.nix")
   ];
 
   perSystem =
diff --git a/tests/platforms/darwin.nix b/tests/platforms/darwin.nix
index dc66f308e8..672bc12b4a 100644
--- a/tests/platforms/darwin.nix
+++ b/tests/platforms/darwin.nix
@@ -1,18 +1,30 @@
 {
   self,
   system,
+  lib,
 }:
-self.inputs.nix-darwin.lib.darwinSystem {
+let
+  darwinSystem = import (self.inputs.nix-darwin + "/eval-config.nix");
+in
+darwinSystem {
+  inherit lib;
+
   modules = [
-    {
-      nixpkgs.hostPlatform = system;
+    (
+      { config, ... }:
+      {
+        nixpkgs = {
+          source = self.inputs.nixpkgs;
+          hostPlatform = system;
+        };
 
-      programs.nixvim = {
-        enable = true;
-      };
+        programs.nixvim = {
+          enable = true;
+        };
 
-      system.stateVersion = 5;
-    }
+        system.stateVersion = config.system.maxStateVersion;
+      }
+    )
     self.nixDarwinModules.nixvim
   ];
 }
diff --git a/tests/platforms/hm-extra-files-byte-compiling.nix b/tests/platforms/hm-extra-files-byte-compiling.nix
index 7caa4931ca..6e19a764d5 100644
--- a/tests/platforms/hm-extra-files-byte-compiling.nix
+++ b/tests/platforms/hm-extra-files-byte-compiling.nix
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 {
   self,
   pkgs,
+  lib,
 }:
 let
-  inherit (self.inputs.home-manager.lib)
-    homeManagerConfiguration
-    ;
+  hmLib = import (self.inputs.home-manager + "/lib") { inherit lib; };
+  inherit (hmLib) homeManagerConfiguration;
 
   config = {
     home = {
diff --git a/tests/platforms/hm-submodule-merge.nix b/tests/platforms/hm-submodule-merge.nix
index e6c2d71588..fb46b215d0 100644
--- a/tests/platforms/hm-submodule-merge.nix
+++ b/tests/platforms/hm-submodule-merge.nix
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 {
   self,
   pkgs,
+  lib,
 }:
 # This test covers a user-reported regression where nixvim's submodule-option (programs.nixvim)
 # cannot correctly merge options declared from the parent scope.
@@ -9,9 +10,8 @@
 #
 # To be clear, this is an upstream module system bug, this test validates our workaround.
 let
-  inherit (self.inputs.home-manager.lib)
-    homeManagerConfiguration
-    ;
+  hmLib = import (self.inputs.home-manager + "/lib") { inherit lib; };
+  inherit (hmLib) homeManagerConfiguration;
 
   # This test module declares a nixvim option from a Home Manager module
   # The module system will attempt an option-type merge on the `programs.nixvim` option,
diff --git a/tests/platforms/hm.nix b/tests/platforms/hm.nix
index 6e54ccf9b1..1e3bc7193b 100644
--- a/tests/platforms/hm.nix
+++ b/tests/platforms/hm.nix
@@ -1,8 +1,12 @@
 {
   self,
   pkgs,
+  lib,
 }:
-self.inputs.home-manager.lib.homeManagerConfiguration {
+let
+  hmLib = import (self.inputs.home-manager + "/lib") { inherit lib; };
+in
+hmLib.homeManagerConfiguration {
   inherit pkgs;
 
   modules = [