diff --git a/tests/functional/meson.build b/tests/functional/meson.build
index 7b42b4943..f24432d02 100644
--- a/tests/functional/meson.build
+++ b/tests/functional/meson.build
@@ -99,7 +99,6 @@ functional_tests_scripts = [
   'eval-store.sh',
   'derivation-json.sh',
   'import-derivation.sh',
-  'placeholders.sh',
   'ssh-relay.sh',
   'build.sh',
   'output-normalization.sh',
diff --git a/tests/functional/placeholders.sh b/tests/functional/placeholders.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index cd1bb7bc2..000000000
--- a/tests/functional/placeholders.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,20 +0,0 @@
-source common.sh
-
-clearStore
-
-nix-build --no-out-link -E '
-  with import ./config.nix;
-
-  mkDerivation {
-    name = "placeholders";
-    outputs = [ "out" "bin" "dev" ];
-    buildCommand = "
-      echo foo1 > $out
-      echo foo2 > $bin
-      echo foo3 > $dev
-      [[ $(cat ${placeholder "out"}) = foo1 ]]
-      [[ $(cat ${placeholder "bin"}) = foo2 ]]
-      [[ $(cat ${placeholder "dev"}) = foo3 ]]
-    ";
-  }
-'
diff --git a/tests/functional2/store/test_placeholders.py b/tests/functional2/store/test_placeholders.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..72d4ba27c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/functional2/store/test_placeholders.py
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+from pathlib import Path
+from testlib.fixtures.file_helper import with_files
+from testlib.utils import get_global_asset
+from testlib.fixtures.nix import Nix
+
+
+@with_files({"config.nix": get_global_asset("config.nix")})
+def test_placeholders(nix: Nix):
+    expr = """
+      with import ./config.nix;
+
+      mkDerivation {
+        name = "placeholders";
+        outputs = [ "out" "bin" "dev" ];
+        buildCommand = "
+          echo foo1 > $out
+          echo foo2 > $bin
+          echo foo3 > $dev
+          [[ $(cat ${placeholder "out"}) = foo1 ]]
+          [[ $(cat ${placeholder "bin"}) = foo2 ]]
+          [[ $(cat ${placeholder "dev"}) = foo3 ]]
+        ";
+      }
+    """
+
+    result = Path(nix.nix_build(["-E", expr]).run().ok().stdout_plain)
+    assert result.read_text() == "foo1\n"