diff --git a/users/pbsds/home/profiles/bashrc.d/nix-shell.sh b/users/pbsds/home/profiles/bashrc.d/nix-shell.sh
index f21753a..e515fa1 100644
--- a/users/pbsds/home/profiles/bashrc.d/nix-shell.sh
+++ b/users/pbsds/home/profiles/bashrc.d/nix-shell.sh
@@ -1,8 +1,13 @@
 function ns() {
   local args=()
   for pkg in "$@"; do
-    args+=(nixpkgs#"$pkg")
+    if [[ "$pkg" =~ ^.*[#:/].*$ ]]; then
+      args+=("$pkg")
+    else
+      args+=(nixpkgs#"$pkg")
+    fi
   done
+
   >&2 echo + exec nix shell "${args[@]}"
   local outpaths="$(
     export NIXPKGS_ALLOW_BROKEN
@@ -21,11 +26,13 @@ function ns() {
   readarray -d $'\n' -t storepaths_build  <<<"$outpaths"
 
   # traverse propagated inputs
+  # TODO: rethink this logic
   local -i idx=-1
   while [[ $((++idx)) -lt "${#storepaths_native[@]}" ]]; do
     if [[ -f "${storepaths_native[$idx]}"/nix-support/propagated-native-build-inputs ]]; then
       storepaths_native+=($(cat "${storepaths_native[$idx]}"/nix-support/propagated-native-build-inputs))
     fi
+    # TODO: needed?
     if [[ -f "${storepaths_native[$idx]}"/nix-support/propagated-build-inputs ]]; then
       storepaths_build+=($(cat "${storepaths_native[$idx]}"/nix-support/propagated-build-inputs))
     fi