diff --git a/deployment/check/common/data-model.nix b/deployment/check/common/data-model.nix
index e45eaa02..81a798af 100644
--- a/deployment/check/common/data-model.nix
+++ b/deployment/check/common/data-model.nix
@@ -26,18 +26,8 @@ let
     httpBackend
     ;
   inherit (lib) mkOption types;
-  eval =
-    module:
-    (lib.evalModules {
-      specialArgs = {
-        inherit pkgs inputs;
-      };
-      modules = [
-        module
-        ../../data-model.nix
-      ];
-    }).config;
-  fediversity = eval (
+  inherit (pkgs.callPackage ../../utils.nix { inherit inputs; }) evalModel;
+  fediversity = evalModel (
     { config, ... }:
     {
       config = {
diff --git a/deployment/check/data-model-nixops4/nixosTest.nix b/deployment/check/data-model-nixops4/nixosTest.nix
index 5a4499f3..e82bb8f5 100644
--- a/deployment/check/data-model-nixops4/nixosTest.nix
+++ b/deployment/check/data-model-nixops4/nixosTest.nix
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
   sourceFileset = lib.fileset.unions [
     ../../data-model.nix
     ../../function.nix
+    ../../utils.nix
     ../common/data-model.nix
     ../common/data-model-options.nix
     ./constants.nix
diff --git a/deployment/data-model-test.nix b/deployment/data-model-test.nix
index 9a27ad31..7f1b511f 100644
--- a/deployment/data-model-test.nix
+++ b/deployment/data-model-test.nix
@@ -2,17 +2,7 @@ let
   inherit (import ../default.nix { }) pkgs inputs;
   inherit (pkgs) lib;
   inherit (lib) mkOption types;
-  eval =
-    module:
-    (lib.evalModules {
-      specialArgs = {
-        inherit pkgs inputs;
-      };
-      modules = [
-        module
-        ./data-model.nix
-      ];
-    }).config;
+  inherit (pkgs.callPackage ./utils.nix { inherit inputs; }) evalModel;
   inherit (inputs.nixops4.lib) mkDeployment;
 in
 {
@@ -30,7 +20,7 @@ in
     */
     expr =
       let
-        fediversity = eval (
+        fediversity = evalModel (
           { config, ... }:
           {
             config = {
diff --git a/deployment/data-model.nix b/deployment/data-model.nix
index fba36399..12873107 100644
--- a/deployment/data-model.nix
+++ b/deployment/data-model.nix
@@ -18,16 +18,7 @@ let
     str
     submodule
     ;
-  toBash =
-    v:
-    lib.replaceStrings [ "\"" ] [ "\\\"" ] (
-      if lib.isPath v || builtins.isNull v then
-        toString v
-      else if lib.isString v then
-        v
-      else
-        lib.strings.toJSON v
-    );
+  inherit (pkgs.callPackage ./utils.nix { }) toBash;
   withPackages = packages: {
     makeWrapperArgs = [
       "--prefix"
diff --git a/deployment/run/tf-setup.nix b/deployment/run/tf-setup.nix
index 871a8474..37328fe5 100644
--- a/deployment/run/tf-setup.nix
+++ b/deployment/run/tf-setup.nix
@@ -5,17 +5,7 @@
   httpBackend,
 }:
 let
-  # FIXME factor out
-  toBash =
-    v:
-    lib.replaceStrings [ "\"" ] [ "\\\"" ] (
-      if lib.isPath v || builtins.isNull v then
-        toString v
-      else if lib.isString v then
-        v
-      else
-        lib.strings.toJSON v
-    );
+  inherit (pkgs.callPackage ../utils.nix { }) toBash;
 in
 pkgs.writeScriptBin "setup" ''
   set -e
diff --git a/deployment/utils.nix b/deployment/utils.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1229bf37
--- /dev/null
+++ b/deployment/utils.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+{
+  pkgs,
+  lib,
+  inputs ? null,
+  ...
+}:
+{
+  evalModel =
+    module:
+    (lib.evalModules {
+      specialArgs = {
+        inherit pkgs inputs;
+      };
+      modules = [
+        ./data-model.nix
+        module
+      ];
+    }).config;
+  toBash =
+    v:
+    lib.replaceStrings [ "\"" ] [ "\\\"" ] (
+      if lib.isPath v || builtins.isNull v then
+        toString v
+      else if lib.isString v then
+        v
+      else
+        lib.strings.toJSON v
+    );
+}