diff --git a/maintainers/scripts/update.py b/maintainers/scripts/update.py
index 576332b76607..10d197d5fe78 100644
--- a/maintainers/scripts/update.py
+++ b/maintainers/scripts/update.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import contextlib
 import json
 import os
 import re
+import shlex
 import subprocess
 import sys
 import tempfile
@@ -235,7 +236,11 @@ async def run_update_script(
             f"UPDATE_NIX_PNAME={package['pname']}",
             f"UPDATE_NIX_OLD_VERSION={package['oldVersion']}",
             f"UPDATE_NIX_ATTR_PATH={package['attrPath']}",
-            *update_script_command,
+            # Run all update scripts in the Nixpkgs development shell to get access to formatters and co.
+            "nix-shell",
+            nixpkgs_root + "/shell.nix",
+            "--run",
+            " ".join([ shlex.quote(s) for s in update_script_command ]),
             stdout=asyncio.subprocess.PIPE,
             stderr=asyncio.subprocess.PIPE,
             cwd=worktree,
diff --git a/pkgs/README.md b/pkgs/README.md
index 83d264d95085..eff9421efbfb 100644
--- a/pkgs/README.md
+++ b/pkgs/README.md
@@ -940,7 +940,8 @@ Update scripts are to be invoked by the [automatic package update script](../mai
 You can run `nix-shell maintainers/scripts/update.nix` in the root of Nixpkgs repository for information on how to use it.
 `update.nix` offers several modes for selecting packages to update, and it will execute update scripts for all matched packages that have an `updateScript` attribute.
 
-Each update script will be passed the following environment variables:
+Update scripts will be run inside the [Nixpkgs development shell](../shell.nix), providing access to some useful tools for CI.
+Furthermore each update script will be passed the following environment variables:
 
 - [`UPDATE_NIX_NAME`] – content of the `name` attribute of the updated package
 - [`UPDATE_NIX_PNAME`] – content of the `pname` attribute of the updated package