diff --git a/src/Nix/Builtins.hs b/src/Nix/Builtins.hs
index 6c83aa2..43d6a61 100644
--- a/src/Nix/Builtins.hs
+++ b/src/Nix/Builtins.hs
@@ -38,7 +38,6 @@ import qualified "hashing" Crypto.Hash.SHA1 as SHA1
 import qualified "hashing" Crypto.Hash.SHA256 as SHA256
 import qualified "hashing" Crypto.Hash.SHA512 as SHA512
 #else
-import           Data.ByteString.Base16 as Base16
 import qualified "cryptohash-md5" Crypto.Hash.MD5 as MD5
 import qualified "cryptohash-sha1" Crypto.Hash.SHA1 as SHA1
 import qualified "cryptohash-sha256" Crypto.Hash.SHA256 as SHA256
@@ -52,6 +51,7 @@ import           Data.Array
 import           Data.Bits
 import           Data.ByteString (ByteString)
 import qualified Data.ByteString as B
+import           Data.ByteString.Base16 as Base16
 import qualified Data.ByteString.Lazy as LBS
 import           Data.Char (isDigit)
 import           Data.Fix
@@ -945,12 +945,13 @@ hashString nsAlgo ns = Prim $ do
         _ -> throwError $ ErrorCall $ "builtins.hashString: "
             ++ "expected \"md5\", \"sha1\", \"sha256\", or \"sha512\", got " ++ show algo
 
--- TODO Double-check this
 placeHolder :: MonadNix e m => m (NValue m) -> m (NValue m)
 placeHolder = fromValue >=> fromStringNoContext >=> \t -> do
     h <- runPrim (hashString (principledMakeNixStringWithoutContext "sha256")
-                             (principledMakeNixStringWithoutContext t))
-    toNix h
+                             (principledMakeNixStringWithoutContext ("nix-output:" <> t)))
+    toNix $ principledMakeNixStringWithoutContext $ Text.cons '/' $ printHash32 $
+      -- The result coming out of hashString is base16 encoded
+      fst $ Base16.decode $ encodeUtf8 $ principledStringIgnoreContext h
 
 absolutePathFromValue :: MonadNix e m => NValue m -> m FilePath
 absolutePathFromValue = \case
@@ -1062,6 +1063,7 @@ exec_ xs = do
   xs <- traverse (coerceToString DontCopyToStore CoerceStringy <=< force') ls
   -- TODO Still need to do something with the context here
   -- See prim_exec in nix/src/libexpr/primops.cc
+  -- Requires the implementation of EvalState::realiseContext
   exec (map (Text.unpack . hackyStringIgnoreContext) xs)
 
 fetchurl :: forall e m. MonadNix e m => m (NValue m) -> m (NValue m)
diff --git a/src/Nix/Utils.hs b/src/Nix/Utils.hs
index fe51370..e2808a5 100644
--- a/src/Nix/Utils.hs
+++ b/src/Nix/Utils.hs
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 {-# LANGUAGE FlexibleInstances #-}
 {-# LANGUAGE LambdaCase #-}
 {-# LANGUAGE MultiParamTypeClasses #-}
+{-# LANGUAGE OverloadedStrings #-}
 {-# LANGUAGE RankNTypes #-}
 {-# LANGUAGE ScopedTypeVariables #-}
 {-# LANGUAGE TupleSections #-}
@@ -13,6 +14,9 @@ import           Control.Monad
 import           Control.Monad.Fix
 import qualified Data.Aeson as A
 import qualified Data.Aeson.Encoding as A
+import           Data.Bits
+import           Data.ByteString (ByteString)
+import qualified Data.ByteString as B
 import           Data.Fix
 import           Data.HashMap.Lazy (HashMap)
 import qualified Data.HashMap.Lazy as M
@@ -123,3 +127,26 @@ uriAwareSplit = go where
                 let ((suffix, _):path) = go (Text.drop 3 e2)
                  in (e1 <> Text.pack "://" <> suffix, PathEntryURI) : path
             | otherwise -> (e1, PathEntryPath) : go (Text.drop 1 e2)
+
+printHash32 :: ByteString -> Text
+printHash32 bs = go (base32Len bs - 1) ""
+  where
+   go n s
+     | n >= 0 = go (n-1) (Text.snoc s $ nextCharHash32 bs n)
+     | otherwise = s
+
+nextCharHash32 :: ByteString -> Int -> Char
+nextCharHash32 bs n = Text.index base32Chars (c .&. 0x1f)
+  where
+    b = n * 5
+    i = b `div` 8
+    j = b `mod` 8
+    c = fromIntegral $ shiftR (B.index bs i) j .|. mask
+    mask = if i >= B.length bs - 1
+             then 0
+             else shiftL (B.index bs (i+1)) (8 - j)
+    -- e, o, u, and t are omitted (see base32Chars in nix/src/libutil/hash.cc)
+    base32Chars = "0123456789abcdfghijklmnpqrsvwxyz"
+
+base32Len :: ByteString -> Int
+base32Len bs = ((B.length bs * 8 - 1) `div` 5) + 1
diff --git a/tests/eval-compare/placeholder.nix b/tests/eval-compare/placeholder.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..57d792d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/eval-compare/placeholder.nix
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+builtins.placeholder "foo"
\ No newline at end of file