LOCALE_ARCHIVE is required because you would want the locales to be looked up during runtime, not during package creation. So AFAICT removing it isn't an option

LOCALE_ARCHIVE is required because you would want the locales to be looked up during runtime, not during package creation. So AFAICT removing it isn't an option. You can avoid problems by using the versioned variables though (e.g., LOCALE_ARCHIVE_2_27). If you use Home Manager, it would do the right thing for you.