diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index bf50018a..82436a0c 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -104,10 +104,29 @@ endif()
 
 if(MP_ENABLE_CLANG_TIDY OR MP_ENABLE_IWYU)
   # Workaround for nix from https://gitlab.kitware.com/cmake/cmake/-/issues/20912#note_793338
-  # Nix injects header paths via $NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE; CMake tags these as
-  # CMAKE_CXX_IMPLICIT_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES and omits them from the compile
-  # database, so clang-tidy, which ignores $NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE, can't find capnp
-  # headers. Setting them as standard passes them to clang-tidy.
+  #
+  # On non-nix systems, compilers find C++ standard library headers in standard
+  # locations like /usr/include, and find dependency headers through -I flags on
+  # the compiler command line. On nix neither is true: compiler binaries are
+  # wrapped by scripts that inject the standard library header locations
+  # themselves, and dependency header locations are passed to the wrapper through
+  # $NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE instead of on the command line. So CMake records all these
+  # paths as CMAKE_CXX_IMPLICIT_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES and leaves them off the
+  # command lines it writes to the compile database.
+  #
+  # This normally does not matter, because analysis tools have their own wrapper
+  # scripts that re-add these paths the same way. But the nixpkgs
+  # include-what-you-use wrapper only re-adds -isystem flags and drops the
+  # -cxx-isystem flags used for the C++ standard library, so IWYU cannot find
+  # standard headers like <cstddef>. Setting the implicit include directories as
+  # standard directories puts them back on every command line, which is what lets
+  # the buggy IWYU wrapper find them.
+  #
+  # This workaround is temporary:
+  # - clang-tidy no longer needs it: the nixpkgs clang-tools wrapper was fixed in
+  #   https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/462747.
+  # - IWYU will stop needing it once its wrapper is fixed the same way (see
+  #   https://github.com/bitcoin-core/libmultiprocess/pull/238#discussion_r3342093865).
   set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES ${CMAKE_CXX_IMPLICIT_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES})
 endif()
 
diff --git a/shell.nix b/shell.nix
index 2d115fea..1f61698c 100644
--- a/shell.nix
+++ b/shell.nix
@@ -53,6 +53,23 @@ let
   })).override (lib.optionalAttrs enableLibcxx { clangStdenv = llvm.libcxxStdenv; });
   clang = if enableLibcxx then llvm.libcxxClang else llvm.clang;
   clang-tools = llvm.clang-tools.override { inherit enableLibcxx; };
+  # IWYU parses source files with its own embedded clang frontend, locating
+  # standard library headers through CPATH/CPLUS_INCLUDE_PATH variables set by
+  # its nixpkgs wrapper script:
+  # https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/master/pkgs/development/tools/analysis/include-what-you-use/wrapper
+  # The wrapper derives those variables from the clang recorded in the
+  # derivation's `clang` attribute, which defaults to the toolchain IWYU was
+  # built against (libstdc++-flavored on Linux), not the toolchain this shell
+  # uses. Rebind it to this shell's compiler so IWYU resolves the same
+  # standard library the build uses.
+  #
+  # Mixing pkgs and crossPkgs here is intentional: IWYU comes from pkgs
+  # because it runs on the build machine, while `clang` comes from crossPkgs
+  # (via llvm) so that in a cross shell IWYU is baked with the cross
+  # toolchain's target headers — what it needs to analyze a cross build.
+  include-what-you-use = pkgs.include-what-you-use.overrideAttrs (old: {
+    inherit clang;
+  });
   cmakeHashes = {
     "3.12.4" = "sha256-UlVYS/0EPrcXViz/iULUcvHA5GecSUHYS6raqbKOMZQ=";
   };
@@ -71,16 +88,31 @@ in crossPkgs.mkShell {
   ];
   nativeBuildInputs = with pkgs; [
     cmakeBuild
-    include-what-you-use
     ninja
   ] ++ lib.optional (gcc != null) gcc ++ lib.optionals (!minimal) [
-    clang
+    # List clang-tools before clang so its wrapped tools take PATH priority
+    # (the first package in the list wins). Both packages provide the same
+    # tools (clangd, clang-tidy, clang-check, ...), but the clang package's
+    # copies are unwrapped and cannot find standard library headers like
+    # <cstddef>, while the clang-tools copies are wrapper scripts that add
+    # the C and C++ standard library include paths.
+    # https://web.archive.org/web/20260311024938/https://blog.kotatsu.dev/posts/2024-04-10-nixpkgs-clangd-missing-headers/
+    # https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/76486
     clang-tools
+    clang
+    include-what-you-use
   ];
 
   CC = if gcc == null then null else "${gcc}/bin/gcc";
   CXX = if gcc == null then null else "${gcc}/bin/g++";
 
-  # Tell IWYU where its libc++ mapping lives
+  # Tell IWYU where its libc++ mapping file lives. libcxx.imp maps
+  # libc++-internal detail headers (e.g. <__vector/vector.h>) to the public
+  # headers IWYU should suggest instead. IWYU only applies mapping tables
+  # compiled into its binary unless a mapping file is passed explicitly — it
+  # does not discover the libcxx.imp shipped alongside the headers it parses —
+  # so CMakeLists.txt forwards this variable via -Xiwyu --mapping_file. Taking
+  # the file from llvm.libcxx keeps it consistent with the headers IWYU parses
+  # via the include-what-you-use override above.
   IWYU_MAPPING_FILE = if enableLibcxx then "${llvm.libcxx.dev}/include/c++/v1/libcxx.imp" else null;
 }