diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/generic.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/generic.nix
index 5a4c2858f95f..dce2ed074a05 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/generic.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/generic.nix
@@ -29,7 +29,8 @@
  structuredExtraConfig ? {}
 
 , # The version number used for the module directory
-  modDirVersion ? version
+  # If unspecified, this is determined automatically from the version.
+  modDirVersion ? null
 
 , # An attribute set whose attributes express the availability of
   # certain features in this kernel.  E.g. `{iwlwifi = true;}'
@@ -195,15 +196,15 @@ let
   }; # end of configfile derivation
 
   kernel = (callPackage ./manual-config.nix { inherit buildPackages;  }) (basicArgs // {
-    inherit modDirVersion kernelPatches randstructSeed lib stdenv extraMakeFlags extraMeta configfile;
+    inherit kernelPatches randstructSeed lib stdenv extraMakeFlags extraMeta configfile;
     pos = builtins.unsafeGetAttrPos "version" args;
 
     config = { CONFIG_MODULES = "y"; CONFIG_FW_LOADER = "m"; };
-  });
+  } // lib.optionalAttrs (modDirVersion != null) { inherit modDirVersion; });
 
   passthru = basicArgs // {
     features = kernelFeatures;
-    inherit commonStructuredConfig structuredExtraConfig extraMakeFlags isZen isHardened isLibre modDirVersion;
+    inherit commonStructuredConfig structuredExtraConfig extraMakeFlags isZen isHardened isLibre;
     isXen = lib.warn "The isXen attribute is deprecated. All Nixpkgs kernels that support it now have Xen enabled." true;
     passthru = kernel.passthru // (removeAttrs passthru [ "passthru" ]);
     tests = let
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-4.14.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-4.14.nix
index 02893f731e3e..777aa852650a 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-4.14.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-4.14.nix
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ buildLinux (args // rec {
   version = "4.14.302";
 
   # modDirVersion needs to be x.y.z, will automatically add .0 if needed
-  modDirVersion = if (modDirVersionArg == null) then concatStringsSep "." (take 3 (splitVersion "${version}.0")) else modDirVersionArg;
+  modDirVersion = versions.pad 3 version;
 
   # branchVersion needs to be x.y
   extraMeta.branch = versions.majorMinor version;
@@ -16,3 +16,4 @@ buildLinux (args // rec {
     sha256 = "102c9h0byr9v4bxzkdh7mnw1grm47ji6lf6l1gjlwah7f46j6ap3";
   };
 } // (args.argsOverride or {}))
+  // lib.optionalAttrs (modDirVersionArg != null) { modDirVersion = modDirVersionArg; } # legacy
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-4.19.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-4.19.nix
index 44a976ef0c7d..6c5531afd6fd 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-4.19.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-4.19.nix
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ buildLinux (args // rec {
   version = "4.19.269";
 
   # modDirVersion needs to be x.y.z, will automatically add .0 if needed
-  modDirVersion = if (modDirVersionArg == null) then concatStringsSep "." (take 3 (splitVersion "${version}.0")) else modDirVersionArg;
+  modDirVersion = versions.pad 3 version;
 
   # branchVersion needs to be x.y
   extraMeta.branch = versions.majorMinor version;
@@ -16,3 +16,4 @@ buildLinux (args // rec {
     sha256 = "02mjb16xxfj984vibpxvhjl84y5yg0jgzjccjdxnn8db4k9aa2vf";
   };
 } // (args.argsOverride or {}))
+  // lib.optionalAttrs (modDirVersionArg != null) { modDirVersion = modDirVersionArg; } # legacy
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-5.10.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-5.10.nix
index 5614aeb1cabf..7662f6be96c9 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-5.10.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-5.10.nix
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ buildLinux (args // rec {
   version = "5.10.159";
 
   # modDirVersion needs to be x.y.z, will automatically add .0 if needed
-  modDirVersion = if (modDirVersionArg == null) then concatStringsSep "." (take 3 (splitVersion "${version}.0")) else modDirVersionArg;
+  modDirVersion = versions.pad 3 version;
 
   # branchVersion needs to be x.y
   extraMeta.branch = versions.majorMinor version;
@@ -16,3 +16,4 @@ buildLinux (args // rec {
     sha256 = "19yfi5vknxnw0cb8274q3pb5zjs6ny04n16m8xjdfdmznrbvza8v";
   };
 } // (args.argsOverride or {}))
+  // lib.optionalAttrs (modDirVersionArg != null) { modDirVersion = modDirVersionArg; } # legacy
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-5.15.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-5.15.nix
index 8e07ff461ef6..f72a304d30c9 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-5.15.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-5.15.nix
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ buildLinux (args // rec {
   version = "5.15.83";
 
   # modDirVersion needs to be x.y.z, will automatically add .0 if needed
-  modDirVersion = if (modDirVersionArg == null) then concatStringsSep "." (take 3 (splitVersion "${version}.0")) else modDirVersionArg;
+  modDirVersion = versions.pad 3 version;
 
   # branchVersion needs to be x.y
   extraMeta.branch = versions.majorMinor version;
@@ -16,3 +16,4 @@ buildLinux (args // rec {
     sha256 = "1wvzfhzqq9dps508wmp2gblfz93ipppnjzqm0n8pi1acq11hhna0";
   };
 } // (args.argsOverride or { }))
+  // lib.optionalAttrs (modDirVersionArg != null) { modDirVersion = modDirVersionArg; } # legacy
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-5.4.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-5.4.nix
index b45ef4f3b502..b41f18d400a3 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-5.4.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-5.4.nix
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ buildLinux (args // rec {
   version = "5.4.227";
 
   # modDirVersion needs to be x.y.z, will automatically add .0 if needed
-  modDirVersion = if (modDirVersionArg == null) then concatStringsSep "." (take 3 (splitVersion "${version}.0")) else modDirVersionArg;
+  modDirVersion = versions.pad 3 version;
 
   # branchVersion needs to be x.y
   extraMeta.branch = versions.majorMinor version;
@@ -16,3 +16,4 @@ buildLinux (args // rec {
     sha256 = "14q5gy48j78vwnqivrgpdhj778n2jq5l7yiw5na1rwqmfh1wbvsy";
   };
 } // (args.argsOverride or {}))
+  // lib.optionalAttrs (modDirVersionArg != null) { modDirVersion = modDirVersionArg; } # legacy
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-6.0.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-6.0.nix
index 2bd2a3f07c1d..ea98462bdf40 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-6.0.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-6.0.nix
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ buildLinux (args // rec {
   version = "6.0.13";
 
   # modDirVersion needs to be x.y.z, will automatically add .0 if needed
-  modDirVersion = if (modDirVersionArg == null) then concatStringsSep "." (take 3 (splitVersion "${version}.0")) else modDirVersionArg;
+  modDirVersion = versions.pad 3 version;
 
   # branchVersion needs to be x.y
   extraMeta.branch = versions.majorMinor version;
@@ -16,3 +16,4 @@ buildLinux (args // rec {
     sha256 = "191dlxcmbx8vy6z2k04jq2kr6hwnaknsnsyycvqnjmvmdf6i3lq8";
   };
 } // (args.argsOverride or { }))
+  // lib.optionalAttrs (modDirVersionArg != null) { modDirVersion = modDirVersionArg; } # legacy
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-6.1.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-6.1.nix
index 64ed1a717caf..aab12f77786a 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-6.1.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-6.1.nix
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ buildLinux (args // rec {
   version = "6.1";
 
   # modDirVersion needs to be x.y.z, will automatically add .0 if needed
-  modDirVersion = if (modDirVersionArg == null) then concatStringsSep "." (take 3 (splitVersion "${version}.0")) else modDirVersionArg;
+  modDirVersion = versions.pad 3 version;
 
   # branchVersion needs to be x.y
   extraMeta.branch = versions.majorMinor version;
@@ -16,3 +16,4 @@ buildLinux (args // rec {
     sha256 = "sha256-LKHxcFGkMPb+0RluSVJxdQcXGs/ZfZZXchJQJwOyXes=";
   };
 } // (args.argsOverride or { }))
+  // lib.optionalAttrs (modDirVersionArg != null) { modDirVersion = modDirVersionArg; } # legacy
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-rt-5.10.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-rt-5.10.nix
index 103b142054af..a97b1acb5aad 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-rt-5.10.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-rt-5.10.nix
@@ -13,8 +13,7 @@ in buildLinux (args // {
   inherit version;
 
   # modDirVersion needs a patch number, change X.Y-rtZ to X.Y.0-rtZ.
-  modDirVersion = if (builtins.match "[^.]*[.][^.]*-.*" version) == null then version
-    else lib.replaceStrings ["-"] [".0-"] version;
+  modDirVersion = lib.versions.pad 3 version;
 
   src = fetchurl {
     url = "mirror://kernel/linux/kernel/v5.x/linux-${kversion}.tar.xz";
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-testing.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-testing.nix
index 76db1b11bbd2..859df2c53e6c 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-testing.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/linux-testing.nix
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ buildLinux (args // rec {
   extraMeta.branch = lib.versions.majorMinor version;
 
   # modDirVersion needs to be x.y.z, will always add .0
-  modDirVersion = if (modDirVersionArg == null) then builtins.replaceStrings ["-"] [".0-"] version else modDirVersionArg;
+  modDirVersion = versions.pad 3 version;
 
   src = fetchurl {
     url = "https://git.kernel.org/torvalds/t/linux-${version}.tar.gz";
@@ -18,3 +18,4 @@ buildLinux (args // rec {
   extraMeta.hydraPlatforms = [];
 
 } // (args.argsOverride or {}))
+  // lib.optionalAttrs (modDirVersionArg != null) { modDirVersion = modDirVersionArg; } # legacy
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/manual-config.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/manual-config.nix
index edfd1f7dbc28..1ba5495fc90e 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/manual-config.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/manual-config.nix
@@ -22,8 +22,9 @@ in {
   pos ? null,
   # Additional kernel make flags
   extraMakeFlags ? [],
-  # The version of the kernel module directory
-  modDirVersion ? version,
+  # The name of the kernel module directory
+  # Needs to be X.Y.Z[-extra], so pad with zeros if needed.
+  modDirVersion ? lib.versions.pad 3 version,
   # The kernel source (tarball, git checkout, etc.)
   src,
   # a list of { name=..., patch=..., extraConfig=...} patches
@@ -36,7 +37,7 @@ in {
   # Custom seed used for CONFIG_GCC_PLUGIN_RANDSTRUCT if enabled. This is
   # automatically extended with extra per-version and per-config values.
   randstructSeed ? "",
-  # Use defaultMeta // extraMeta
+  # Extra meta attributes
   extraMeta ? {},
 
   # for module compatibility
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/xanmod-kernels.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/xanmod-kernels.nix
index cd1c82778072..42997b5302ec 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/xanmod-kernels.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/xanmod-kernels.nix
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ let
 
   xanmodKernelFor = { version, suffix ? "xanmod1", hash, variant }: buildLinux (args // rec {
     inherit version;
-    modDirVersion = "${version}-${suffix}";
+    modDirVersion = lib.versions.pad 3 "${version}-${suffix}";
 
     src = fetchFromGitHub {
       owner = "xanmod";
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/zen-kernels.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/zen-kernels.nix
index a58782828478..08671e83ffc5 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/zen-kernels.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/zen-kernels.nix
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ let
   };
   zenKernelsFor = { version, suffix, sha256, isLqx }: buildLinux (args // {
     inherit version;
-    modDirVersion = "${lib.concatStringsSep "." (lib.take 3 (lib.splitVersion version ++ [ "0" "0" ]))}-${suffix}";
+    modDirVersion = lib.versions.pad 3 "${version}-${suffix}";
     isZen = true;
 
     src = fetchFromGitHub {
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index bff0e2f7591c..53f4f77a0cbf 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -25470,7 +25470,7 @@ with pkgs;
   linuxPackages_custom_tinyconfig_kernel = let
     base = linuxPackages.kernel;
     tinyLinuxPackages = linuxKernel.customPackage {
-      inherit (base) version src;
+      inherit (base) version modDirVersion src;
       allowImportFromDerivation = false;
       configfile = linuxConfig {
         makeTarget = "tinyconfig";
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/linux-kernels.nix b/pkgs/top-level/linux-kernels.nix
index ac0511a649bf..da4270896f67 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/linux-kernels.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/linux-kernels.nix
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ let
       };
       argsOverride = {
         inherit version;
+        modDirVersion = modDirVersion' + kernelPatches.hardened.${kernel.meta.branch}.extra;
         src = fetchurl {
           url = "mirror://kernel/linux/kernel/v${major}.x/linux-${version}.tar.xz";
           inherit sha256;
@@ -48,7 +49,6 @@ let
       kernelPatches = kernel.kernelPatches ++ [
         kernelPatches.hardened.${kernel.meta.branch}
       ];
-      modDirVersionArg = modDirVersion' + (kernelPatches.hardened.${kernel.meta.branch}).extra;
       isHardened = true;
   };
 in {
@@ -595,9 +595,9 @@ in {
 
   manualConfig = makeOverridable (callPackage ../os-specific/linux/kernel/manual-config.nix {});
 
-  customPackage = { version, src, configfile, allowImportFromDerivation ? true }:
+  customPackage = { version, src, modDirVersion ? lib.versions.pad 3 version, configfile, allowImportFromDerivation ? true }:
     recurseIntoAttrs (packagesFor (manualConfig {
-      inherit version src configfile lib stdenv allowImportFromDerivation;
+      inherit version src modDirVersion configfile lib stdenv allowImportFromDerivation;
     }));
 
   # Derive one of the default .config files