diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index fec9800ce..1083ee2ac 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -144,6 +144,7 @@ MODULES =					\
   guix/build/download.scm			\
   guix/build/download-nar.scm			\
   guix/build/cargo-build-system.scm		\
+  guix/build/cargo-utils.scm			\
   guix/build/cmake-build-system.scm		\
   guix/build/dub-build-system.scm		\
   guix/build/dune-build-system.scm		\
diff --git a/gnu/packages/gnuzilla.scm b/gnu/packages/gnuzilla.scm
index 1f299a2b1..e5006e4bf 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/gnuzilla.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/gnuzilla.scm
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 ;;; Copyright © 2017 Nils Gillmann <ng0@n0.is>
 ;;; Copyright © 2017, 2018 Tobias Geerinckx-Rice <me@tobias.gr>
 ;;; Copyright © 2018 Ricardo Wurmus <rekado@elephly.net>
+;;; Copyright © 2019 Ivan Petkov <ivanppetkov@gmail.com>
 ;;;
 ;;; This file is part of GNU Guix.
 ;;;
@@ -865,8 +866,6 @@ from forcing GEXP-PROMISE."
        ;; practice somehow.  See <http://hydra.gnu.org/build/378133>.
        #:validate-runpath? #f
 
-       #:imported-modules ,%cargo-build-system-modules ;for `generate-checksums'
-
        #:configure-flags `("--enable-default-toolkit=cairo-gtk3"
 
                            "--with-distribution-id=org.gnu"
@@ -938,6 +937,8 @@ from forcing GEXP-PROMISE."
                            ;; "--with-system-png"
                            )
 
+       #:imported-modules ,%cargo-utils-modules ;for `generate-checksums'
+
        #:modules ((ice-9 ftw)
                   (ice-9 rdelim)
                   (ice-9 match)
@@ -977,7 +978,7 @@ from forcing GEXP-PROMISE."
              (invoke "sh" "-c" "autoconf old-configure.in > old-configure")))
          (add-after 'patch-source-shebangs 'patch-cargo-checksums
            (lambda _
-             (use-modules (guix build cargo-build-system))
+             (use-modules (guix build cargo-utils))
              (let ((null-file "/dev/null")
                    (null-hash "e3b0c44298fc1c149afbf4c8996fb92427ae41e4649b934ca495991b7852b855"))
                (substitute* '("Cargo.lock" "servo/Cargo.lock")
diff --git a/gnu/packages/rust.scm b/gnu/packages/rust.scm
index 179689973..3cb64795b 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/rust.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/rust.scm
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 ;;; Copyright © 2017 Efraim Flashner <efraim@flashner.co.il>
 ;;; Copyright © 2018 Tobias Geerinckx-Rice <me@tobias.gr>
 ;;; Copyright © 2018 Danny Milosavljevic <dannym+a@scratchpost.org>
+;;; Copyright © 2019 Ivan Petkov <ivanppetkov@gmail.com>
 ;;;
 ;;; This file is part of GNU Guix.
 ;;;
@@ -194,7 +195,7 @@ safety and thread safety guarantees.")
     (properties '((timeout . 72000)               ;20 hours
                   (max-silent-time . 18000)))     ;5 hours (for armel)
     (arguments
-     `(#:imported-modules ,%cargo-build-system-modules ;for `generate-checksums'
+     `(#:imported-modules ,%cargo-utils-modules ;for `generate-checksums'
        #:modules ((guix build utils) (ice-9 match) (guix build gnu-build-system))
        #:phases
        (modify-phases %standard-phases
@@ -273,7 +274,7 @@ test = { path = \"../libtest\" }
                 (string-append name "\"" ,%cargo-reference-hash "\"")))
              (for-each
               (lambda (filename)
-                (use-modules (guix build cargo-build-system))
+                (use-modules (guix build cargo-utils))
                 (delete-file filename)
                 (let* ((dir (dirname filename)))
                   (display (string-append
diff --git a/guix/build-system/cargo.scm b/guix/build-system/cargo.scm
index 4a1eb0cfa..7ff4e90f7 100644
--- a/guix/build-system/cargo.scm
+++ b/guix/build-system/cargo.scm
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 ;;; Copyright © 2013 Andreas Enge <andreas@enge.fr>
 ;;; Copyright © 2013 Nikita Karetnikov <nikita@karetnikov.org>
 ;;; Copyright © 2016 David Craven <david@craven.ch>
+;;; Copyright © 2019 Ivan Petkov <ivanppetkov@gmail.com>
 ;;;
 ;;; This file is part of GNU Guix.
 ;;;
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@
   #:use-module (ice-9 match)
   #:use-module (srfi srfi-26)
   #:export (%cargo-build-system-modules
+            %cargo-utils-modules
             cargo-build-system
             crate-url
             crate-url?
@@ -49,10 +51,15 @@ to NAME and VERSION."
   (let ((rust (resolve-interface '(gnu packages rust))))
     (module-ref rust 'rust)))
 
+(define %cargo-utils-modules
+  ;; Build-side modules imported by default.
+  `((guix build cargo-utils)
+    ,@%gnu-build-system-modules))
+
 (define %cargo-build-system-modules
   ;; Build-side modules imported by default.
   `((guix build cargo-build-system)
-    ,@%gnu-build-system-modules))
+    ,@%cargo-utils-modules))
 
 (define* (cargo-build store name inputs
                       #:key
diff --git a/guix/build/cargo-build-system.scm b/guix/build/cargo-build-system.scm
index f52444f61..20087fa6c 100644
--- a/guix/build/cargo-build-system.scm
+++ b/guix/build/cargo-build-system.scm
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 (define-module (guix build cargo-build-system)
   #:use-module ((guix build gnu-build-system) #:prefix gnu:)
   #:use-module (guix build utils)
+  #:use-module (guix build cargo-utils)
   #:use-module (ice-9 popen)
   #:use-module (ice-9 rdelim)
   #:use-module (ice-9 ftw)
@@ -28,8 +29,7 @@
   #:use-module (srfi srfi-1)
   #:use-module (srfi srfi-26)
   #:export (%standard-phases
-            cargo-build
-            generate-checksums))
+            cargo-build))
 
 ;; Commentary:
 ;;
@@ -107,41 +107,6 @@ directory = '" port)
       (zero? (system* "cargo" "test"))
       #t))
 
-(define (file-sha256 file-name)
-  "Calculate the hexdigest of the sha256 checksum of FILE-NAME and return it."
-  (let ((port (open-pipe* OPEN_READ
-                          "sha256sum"
-                          "--"
-                          file-name)))
-    (let ((result (read-delimited " " port)))
-      (close-pipe port)
-      result)))
-
-(define (generate-checksums dir-name src-name)
-  "Given DIR-NAME, a store directory, checksum all the files in it one
-by one and put the result into the file \".cargo-checksum.json\" in
-the same directory.  Also includes the checksum of an extra file
-SRC-NAME as if it was part of the directory DIR-NAME with name
-\"package\"."
-  (let* ((file-names (find-files dir-name "."))
-         (dir-prefix-name (string-append dir-name "/"))
-         (dir-prefix-name-len (string-length dir-prefix-name))
-         (checksums-file-name (string-append dir-name "/.cargo-checksum.json")))
-    (call-with-output-file checksums-file-name
-      (lambda (port)
-        (display "{\"files\":{" port)
-        (let ((sep ""))
-          (for-each (lambda (file-name)
-            (let ((file-relative-name (string-drop file-name dir-prefix-name-len)))
-                  (display sep port)
-                  (set! sep ",")
-                  (write file-relative-name port)
-                  (display ":" port)
-                  (write (file-sha256 file-name) port))) file-names))
-        (display "},\"package\":" port)
-        (write (file-sha256 src-name) port)
-        (display "}" port)))))
-
 (define (touch file-name)
   (call-with-output-file file-name (const #t)))
 
diff --git a/guix/build/cargo-utils.scm b/guix/build/cargo-utils.scm
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6af572e61
--- /dev/null
+++ b/guix/build/cargo-utils.scm
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+;;; GNU Guix --- Functional package management for GNU
+;;; Copyright © 2016 David Craven <david@craven.ch>
+;;; Copyright © 2017 Mathieu Othacehe <m.othacehe@gmail.com>
+;;; Copyright © 2019 Ivan Petkov <ivanppetkov@gmail.com>
+;;;
+;;; This file is part of GNU Guix.
+;;;
+;;; GNU Guix is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+;;; under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+;;; the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or (at
+;;; your option) any later version.
+;;;
+;;; GNU Guix is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
+;;; WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+;;; MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+;;; GNU General Public License for more details.
+;;;
+;;; You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+;;; along with GNU Guix.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+(define-module (guix build cargo-utils)
+  #:use-module (guix build utils)
+  #:use-module (ice-9 popen)
+  #:use-module (ice-9 rdelim)
+  #:export (generate-checksums))
+
+;; Commentary:
+;;
+;; Stand alone utilities for building Rust crates or the compiler itself,
+;; without depending on the entire cargo build-system itself.
+;;
+;; Code:
+
+(define (file-sha256 file-name)
+  "Calculate the hexdigest of the sha256 checksum of FILE-NAME and return it."
+  (let ((port (open-pipe* OPEN_READ
+                          "sha256sum"
+                          "--"
+                          file-name)))
+    (let ((result (read-delimited " " port)))
+      (close-pipe port)
+      result)))
+
+(define (generate-checksums dir-name src-name)
+  "Given DIR-NAME, a store directory, checksum all the files in it one
+by one and put the result into the file \".cargo-checksum.json\" in
+the same directory.  Also includes the checksum of an extra file
+SRC-NAME as if it was part of the directory DIR-NAME with name
+\"package\"."
+  (let* ((file-names (find-files dir-name "."))
+         (dir-prefix-name (string-append dir-name "/"))
+         (dir-prefix-name-len (string-length dir-prefix-name))
+         (checksums-file-name (string-append dir-name "/.cargo-checksum.json")))
+    (call-with-output-file checksums-file-name
+      (lambda (port)
+        (display "{\"files\":{" port)
+        (let ((sep ""))
+          (for-each (lambda (file-name)
+            (let ((file-relative-name (string-drop file-name dir-prefix-name-len)))
+                  (display sep port)
+                  (set! sep ",")
+                  (write file-relative-name port)
+                  (display ":" port)
+                  (write (file-sha256 file-name) port))) file-names))
+        (display "},\"package\":" port)
+        (write (file-sha256 src-name) port)
+        (display "}" port)))))
