diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/vscode/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/vscode/default.nix
index b5cb6f6e3e1..2a6926a8708 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/vscode/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/vscode/default.nix
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 { stdenv, lib, fetchurl, unzip, atomEnv, makeDesktopItem,
-  gtk2, wrapGAppsHook, libXScrnSaver, libxkbfile, libsecret }:
+  gtk2, wrapGAppsHook, libXScrnSaver, libxkbfile, libsecret,
+  isInsiders ? false }:
 
 let
-  version = "1.29.1";
-  channel = "stable";
+  executableName = "code" + lib.optionalString isInsiders "-insiders";
 
   plat = {
     "i686-linux" = "linux-ia32";
@@ -31,19 +31,24 @@ let
 in
   stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     name = "vscode-${version}";
+    version = "1.29.1";
 
     src = fetchurl {
       name = "VSCode_${version}_${plat}.${archive_fmt}";
-      url = "https://vscode-update.azurewebsites.net/${version}/${plat}/${channel}";
+      url = "https://vscode-update.azurewebsites.net/${version}/${plat}/stable";
       inherit sha256;
     };
 
+    passthru = {
+      inherit executableName;
+    };
+
     desktopItem = makeDesktopItem {
-      name = "code";
-      exec = "code";
-      icon = "code";
+      name = executableName;
+      exec = executableName;
+      icon = "@out@/share/pixmaps/code.png";
       comment = "Code editor redefined and optimized for building and debugging modern web and cloud applications";
-      desktopName = "Visual Studio Code";
+      desktopName = "Visual Studio Code" + lib.optionalString isInsiders " Insiders";
       genericName = "Text Editor";
       categories = "GNOME;GTK;Utility;TextEditor;Development;";
     };
@@ -56,17 +61,18 @@ in
       if stdenv.hostPlatform.system == "x86_64-darwin" then ''
         mkdir -p $out/lib/vscode $out/bin
         cp -r ./* $out/lib/vscode
-        ln -s $out/lib/vscode/Contents/Resources/app/bin/code $out/bin
+        ln -s $out/lib/vscode/Contents/Resources/app/bin/${executableName} $out/bin
       '' else ''
         mkdir -p $out/lib/vscode $out/bin
         cp -r ./* $out/lib/vscode
 
-        substituteInPlace $out/lib/vscode/bin/code --replace '"$CLI" "$@"' '"$CLI" "--skip-getting-started" "$@"'
+        substituteInPlace $out/lib/vscode/bin/${executableName} --replace '"$CLI" "$@"' '"$CLI" "--skip-getting-started" "$@"'
 
-        ln -s $out/lib/vscode/bin/code $out/bin
+        ln -s $out/lib/vscode/bin/${executableName} $out/bin
 
         mkdir -p $out/share/applications
-        cp $desktopItem/share/applications/* $out/share/applications
+        substitute $desktopItem/share/applications/${executableName}.desktop $out/share/applications/${executableName}.desktop \
+          --subst-var out
 
         mkdir -p $out/share/pixmaps
         cp $out/lib/vscode/resources/app/resources/linux/code.png $out/share/pixmaps/code.png
@@ -76,7 +82,7 @@ in
       patchelf \
         --set-interpreter "$(cat $NIX_CC/nix-support/dynamic-linker)" \
         --set-rpath "${rpath}" \
-        $out/lib/vscode/code
+        $out/lib/vscode/${executableName}
 
       patchelf \
         --set-rpath "${rpath}" \
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/vscode/with-extensions.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/vscode/with-extensions.nix
index 5535d9ab112..0af96e8bea8 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/vscode/with-extensions.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/vscode/with-extensions.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ stdenv, lib, runCommand, buildEnv, vscode, which, writeScript
+{ stdenv, lib, runCommand, buildEnv, vscode, makeWrapper
 , vscodeExtensions ? [] }:
 
 /*
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@
 
 let
 
+  inherit (vscode) executableName;
   wrappedPkgVersion = lib.getVersion vscode;
   wrappedPkgName = lib.removeSuffix "-${wrappedPkgVersion}" vscode.name;
 
@@ -51,22 +52,12 @@ let
     paths = vscodeExtensions;
   };
 
-  wrappedExeName = "code";
-  exeName = wrappedExeName;
-
-  wrapperExeFile = writeScript "${exeName}" ''
-    #!${stdenv.shell}
-    exec ${vscode}/bin/${wrappedExeName} \
-      --extensions-dir "${combinedExtensionsDrv}/share/${wrappedPkgName}/extensions" \
-      "$@"
-  '';
-
 in
 
 # When no extensions are requested, we simply redirect to the original
 # non-wrapped vscode executable.
 runCommand "${wrappedPkgName}-with-extensions-${wrappedPkgVersion}" {
-  buildInputs = [ vscode which ];
+  buildInputs = [ vscode makeWrapper ];
   dontPatchELF = true;
   dontStrip = true;
   meta = vscode.meta;
@@ -75,13 +66,9 @@ runCommand "${wrappedPkgName}-with-extensions-${wrappedPkgVersion}" {
   mkdir -p "$out/share/applications"
   mkdir -p "$out/share/pixmaps"
 
-  ln -sT "${vscode}/share/applications/code.desktop" "$out/share/applications/code.desktop"
   ln -sT "${vscode}/share/pixmaps/code.png" "$out/share/pixmaps/code.png"
-  ${if [] == vscodeExtensions
-    then ''
-      ln -sT "${vscode}/bin/${wrappedExeName}" "$out/bin/${exeName}"
-    ''
-    else ''
-      ln -sT "${wrapperExeFile}" "$out/bin/${exeName}"
-    ''}
+  ln -sT "${vscode}/share/applications/${executableName}.desktop" "$out/share/applications/${executableName}.desktop"
+  makeWrapper "${vscode}/bin/${executableName}" "$out/bin/${executableName}" \
+    --add-flags \
+      "--extensions-dir ${combinedExtensionsDrv}/share/${wrappedPkgName}/extensions"
 ''