diff --git a/direnvrc b/direnvrc
index 813e5b3..e803eea 100644
--- a/direnvrc
+++ b/direnvrc
@@ -24,8 +24,10 @@ _nix_direnv_preflight () {
     exit 1
   fi
 
-  if ! "${NIX_BIN_PREFIX}nix-shell" --extra-experimental-features '' --version 2>/dev/null >&2; then
-    log_status "nix-direnv: nix version is older than the required 2.4."
+  nixversion=$("${NIX_BIN_PREFIX}"nix --version)
+  [[ "$nixversion" =~ ([0-9]+)[^0-9]*([0-9]+)[^0-9]*([0-9]+)? ]]
+  if [[ "${BASH_REMATCH[1]}" -lt "2" || "${BASH_REMATCH[1]}" -eq "2" && "${BASH_REMATCH[2]}" -lt "4" ]]; then
+    log_status "nix-direnv: nix version ${BASH_REMATCH[0]} is older than the required 2.4."
     exit 1
   fi