diff --git a/flake.lock b/flake.lock
--- a/flake.lock
+++ b/flake.lock
@@ -2,11 +2,11 @@
   "nodes": {
     "nixpkgs": {
       "locked": {
-        "lastModified": 1655481042,
-        "narHash": "sha256-XHbcywq2vIQ5CeH1OK3TN793jkiNAAZsSctS1PFgseo=",
+        "lastModified": 1658644204,
+        "narHash": "sha256-MWyfCH9K3eVTXJUxBi67OQSAh9jJAnvWklM6qm4j8w8=",
         "owner": "nixos",
         "repo": "nixpkgs",
-        "rev": "103a4c0ae46afa9cf008c30744175315ca38e9f9",
+        "rev": "2f0c3be57c348f4cfd8820f2d189e29a685d9c41",
         "type": "github"
       },
       "original": {
diff --git a/nix/overlay.nix b/nix/overlay.nix
--- a/nix/overlay.nix
+++ b/nix/overlay.nix
@@ -73,6 +73,23 @@
       url = "https://nodejs.org/dist/v${version}/node-v${version}.tar.xz";
       sha256 = "sha256-MhFLPcOUXtD5X4vDO0LGjg7xjECMtWEiVyoWPZB+y8w=";
     };
+
+    # Nixpkgs applies two patches for 16.15. One patch is for finding headers
+    # needed for v8 on darwin using apple_sdk 11; the other patch fixes crashes
+    # related cache dir defaulting to using `$HOME` without asserting that
+    # it exists.
+    #
+    # However, 16.13 doesn't need the second patch, as the regression which
+    # caused it was introduced after 16.13. This ends up being a no-op. But
+    # nix will still try to apply the patch and fail with "this patch has
+    # already been applied".
+    #
+    # For more context, see (https://github.com/npm/cli/pull/5197)
+    #
+    # lib.head will select the first element in an array
+    patches = [
+      (prev.lib.head oldAttrs.patches)
+    ];
   });
 
   # Ensure that yarn is using the pinned version