diff --git a/gnu/packages/node-xyz.scm b/gnu/packages/node-xyz.scm
index 1f51c0d636..990b26a689 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/node-xyz.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/node-xyz.scm
@@ -297,9 +297,7 @@ (define-public node-semver
        (modify-phases %standard-phases
          (add-after 'patch-dependencies 'delete-dependencies
            (lambda args
-             (with-atomic-json-file-replacement "package.json"
-               (lambda (pkg-meta)
-                 (delete-dependencies pkg-meta '("tap")))))))
+             (delete-dependencies '("^tap$")))))
        ;; FIXME: Tests depend on node-tap
        #:tests? #f))
     (home-page "https://github.com/npm/node-semver")
@@ -329,9 +327,7 @@ (define-public node-wrappy
        (modify-phases %standard-phases
          (add-after 'patch-dependencies 'delete-dependencies
            (lambda args
-             (with-atomic-json-file-replacement "package.json"
-               (lambda (pkg-meta)
-                 (delete-dependencies pkg-meta '("tap")))))))))
+             (delete-dependencies '("^tap$")))))))
     (home-page "https://github.com/npm/wrappy")
     (synopsis "Callback wrapping utility")
     (description "@code{wrappy} is a utility for Node.js to wrap callbacks.")
@@ -356,9 +352,7 @@ (define-public node-once
        (modify-phases %standard-phases
          (add-after 'patch-dependencies 'delete-dependencies
            (lambda args
-             (with-atomic-json-file-replacement "package.json"
-               (lambda (pkg-meta)
-                 (delete-dependencies pkg-meta '("tap")))))))
+             (delete-dependencies '("^tap$")))))
        ;; FIXME: Tests depend on node-tap
        #:tests? #f))
     (inputs
@@ -391,9 +385,7 @@ (define-public node-inherits
        (modify-phases %standard-phases
          (add-after 'patch-dependencies 'delete-dependencies
            (lambda args
-             (with-atomic-json-file-replacement "package.json"
-               (lambda (pkg-meta)
-                 (delete-dependencies pkg-meta '("tap")))))))
+             (delete-dependencies '("^tap$")))))
        ;; FIXME: Tests depend on node-tap
        #:tests? #f))
     (home-page
@@ -425,10 +417,7 @@ (define-public node-safe-buffer
        (modify-phases %standard-phases
          (add-after 'patch-dependencies 'delete-dependencies
            (lambda args
-             (with-atomic-json-file-replacement "package.json"
-               (lambda (pkg-meta)
-                 (delete-dependencies pkg-meta  '("tape"
-                                                  "standard")))))))
+             (delete-dependencies '("^tape$" "^standard$")))))
        #:tests? #f))
     (home-page
      "https://github.com/feross/safe-buffer")
@@ -458,12 +447,8 @@ (define-public node-string-decoder
        (modify-phases %standard-phases
          (add-after 'patch-dependencies 'delete-dependencies
            (lambda args
-             (with-atomic-json-file-replacement "package.json"
-               (lambda (pkg-meta)
-                 (delete-dependencies pkg-meta
-                                      '("tap"
-                                        "core-util-is"
-                                        "babel-polyfill")))))))
+             (delete-dependencies
+              '("^tap$" "^core-util-is$" "^babel-polyfill$")))))
        ;; FIXME: Tests depend on node-tap
        #:tests? #f))
     (inputs
@@ -497,29 +482,22 @@ (define-public node-readable-stream
        (modify-phases %standard-phases
          (add-after 'patch-dependencies 'delete-dependencies
            (lambda args
-             (with-atomic-json-file-replacement "package.json"
-               (lambda (pkg-meta)
-                 (delete-dependencies pkg-meta
-                                      `("@babel/cli"
-                                        "@babel/core"
-                                        "@babel/polyfill"
-                                        "@babel/preset-env"
-                                        "airtap"
-                                        "assert"
-                                        "bl"
-                                        "deep-strict-equal"
-                                        "events.once"
-                                        "glob"
-                                        "gunzip-maybe"
-                                        "hyperquest"
-                                        "lolex"
-                                        "nyc"
-                                        "pump"
-                                        "rimraf"
-                                        "tap"
-                                        "tape"
-                                        "tar-fs"
-                                        "util-promisify")))))))
+             (delete-dependencies `("^@babel/"
+                                    "^airtap$"
+                                    "^assert$"
+                                    "^bl$"
+                                    "^deep-strict-equal$"
+                                    "^events\\.once$"
+                                    "^glob$"
+                                    "^gunzip-maybe$"
+                                    "^hyperquest$"
+                                    "^lolex$"
+                                    "^nyc$"
+                                    "^pump$"
+                                    "^rimraf$"
+                                    "^tape?$"
+                                    "^tar-fs$"
+                                    "^util-promisify$")))))
        #:tests? #f))
     (inputs
      (list node-util-deprecate node-string-decoder node-inherits))
@@ -554,10 +532,7 @@ (define-public node-irc-colors
        (modify-phases %standard-phases
          (add-after 'patch-dependencies 'delete-dependencies
            (lambda args
-             (with-atomic-json-file-replacement "package.json"
-               (lambda (pkg-meta)
-                 (delete-dependencies pkg-meta `("istanbul"
-                                                 "vows")))))))
+             (delete-dependencies `("^istanbul$" "^vows$")))))
        #:tests? #f))
     (home-page "https://github.com/fent/irc-colors.js")
     (synopsis "Node.js module providing color and formatting for IRC")
@@ -586,12 +561,8 @@ (define-public node-irc
        (modify-phases %standard-phases
          (add-after 'patch-dependencies 'delete-dependencies
            (lambda args
-             (with-atomic-json-file-replacement "package.json"
-               (lambda (pkg-meta)
-                 (delete-dependencies pkg-meta `("ansi-color"
-                                                 "faucet"
-                                                 "jscs"
-                                                 "tape")))))))
+             (delete-dependencies
+              `("^ansi-color$" "^faucet$" "^jscs$" "^tape$")))))
        #:tests? #f))
     (inputs
      (list node-irc-colors))
@@ -620,17 +591,14 @@ (define-public node-nan
        (modify-phases %standard-phases
          (add-after 'patch-dependencies 'delete-dependencies
            (lambda args
-             (with-atomic-json-file-replacement "package.json"
-               (lambda (pkg-meta)
-                 (delete-dependencies
-                  pkg-meta
-                  '("bindings"
-                    "commander"
-                    "glob"
-                    "request"
-                    "node-gyp" ;; would be needed for tests
-                    "tap"
-                    "xtend")))))))
+             (delete-dependencies
+              '("^bindings$"
+                "^commander$"
+                "^glob$"
+                "^request$"
+                "^node-gyp$" ;; would be needed for tests
+                "^tap$"
+                "^xtend$")))))
        ;; tests need tap and other dependencies
        #:tests? #f))
     (inputs
@@ -673,21 +641,11 @@ (define-public node-addon-api
        (modify-phases %standard-phases
          (add-after 'patch-dependencies 'delete-dependencies
            (lambda args
-             (with-atomic-json-file-replacement "package.json"
-               (lambda (pkg-meta)
-                 (delete-dependencies pkg-meta
-                                      `("benchmark"
-                                        "bindings"
-                                        "clang-format"
-                                        "eslint"
-                                        "eslint-config-semistandard"
-                                        "eslint-config-standard"
-                                        "eslint-plugin-import"
-                                        "eslint-plugin-node"
-                                        "eslint-plugin-promise"
-                                        "fs-extra"
-                                        "path"
-                                        "pre-commit"))))))
+             (delete-dependencies
+              `("^benchmark$" "^bindings$" "^clang-format$"
+                "^eslint"
+                "^fs-extra$" "^path$" "^pre-commit$"))
+             ))
          (add-after 'unpack 'skip-js-tests
            ;; We can't run the js-based tests,
            ;; but we can still do the C++ parts
@@ -767,29 +725,26 @@ (define-public node-sqlite3
        (modify-phases %standard-phases
          (add-after 'patch-dependencies 'delete-dependencies
            (lambda args
-             (with-atomic-json-file-replacement "package.json"
-               (lambda (pkg-meta)
-                 (delete-dependencies
-                  pkg-meta
-                  `(;; Normally, this is "built" using @mapbox/node-pre-gyp,
-                    ;; which publishes or downloads pre-built binaries or
-                    ;; falls back to building from source.  Here, we patch out
-                    ;; all of that and just build directly.  It might be
-                    ;; better to patch a version of @mapbox/node-pre-gyp that
-                    ;; always builds from source, as Debian does, but there
-                    ;; are a number of dependencies that need to be packaged
-                    ;; or removed.
-                    "@mapbox/node-pre-gyp"
-                    "node-pre-gyp" ;; deprecated name still used in some places
-                    "aws-sdk"
-                    "@mapbox/cloudfriend"
-                    ;; Confusingly, this is only a dependency because of
-                    ;; @mapbox/node-pre-gyp: with that removed,
-                    ;; npm will use its own copy:
-                    "node-gyp"
-                    ;; These we'd like, we just don't have them yet:
-                    "eslint"
-                    "mocha"))))))
+             (delete-dependencies
+              `(;; Normally, this is "built" using @mapbox/node-pre-gyp,
+                ;; which publishes or downloads pre-built binaries or
+                ;; falls back to building from source.  Here, we patch out
+                ;; all of that and just build directly.  It might be
+                ;; better to patch a version of @mapbox/node-pre-gyp that
+                ;; always builds from source, as Debian does, but there
+                ;; are a number of dependencies that need to be packaged
+                ;; or removed.
+                "^@mapbox/node-pre-gyp$"
+                "^node-pre-gyp$" ;; deprecated name still used in some places
+                "^aws-sdk$"
+                "^@mapbox/cloudfriend$"
+                ;; Confusingly, this is only a dependency because of
+                ;; @mapbox/node-pre-gyp: with that removed,
+                ;; npm will use its own copy:
+                "^node-gyp$"
+                ;; These we'd like, we just don't have them yet:
+                "^eslint$"
+                "^mocha$"))))
          (add-before 'configure 'npm-config-sqlite
            ;; We need this step even if we do replace @mapbox/node-pre-gyp
            ;; because the package expects to build its bundled sqlite
@@ -885,24 +840,12 @@ (define-public node-file-uri-to-path
        (modify-phases %standard-phases
          (add-after 'patch-dependencies 'delete-dependencies
            (lambda args
-             (with-atomic-json-file-replacement "package.json"
-               (lambda (pkg-meta)
-                 (delete-dependencies pkg-meta
-                                      `("@types/mocha"
-                                        "@types/node"
-                                        "@typescript-eslint/eslint-plugin"
-                                        "@typescript-eslint/parser"
-                                        "cpy-cli"
-                                        "eslint"
-                                        "eslint-config-airbnb"
-                                        "eslint-config-prettier"
-                                        "eslint-import-resolver-typescript"
-                                        "eslint-plugin-import"
-                                        "eslint-plugin-jsx-a11y"
-                                        "eslint-plugin-react"
-                                        "mocha"
-                                        "rimraf"
-                                        "typescript"))))))
+             (delete-dependencies
+              `("^@types/mocha$" "^@types/node$"
+                "typescript"
+                "eslint"
+                "^cpy-cli$"
+                "^mocha$" "^rimraf$"))))
          (replace 'build
            (lambda* (#:key inputs native-inputs #:allow-other-keys)
              (copy-recursively "src" "dist")
@@ -995,14 +938,12 @@ (define-public node-ms
        (modify-phases %standard-phases
          (add-after 'patch-dependencies 'delete-dependencies
            (lambda args
-             (with-atomic-json-file-replacement "package.json"
-               (lambda (pkg-meta)
-                 (delete-dependencies pkg-meta `("eslint"
-                                                 "expect.js"
-                                                 "husky"
-                                                 "lint-staged"
-                                                 "mocha"
-                                                 "prettier")))))))
+             (delete-dependencies `("^eslint$"
+                                    "^expect\\.js$"
+                                    "^husky$"
+                                    "^lint-staged$"
+                                    "^mocha$"
+                                    "^prettier$")))))
        #:tests? #f))
     (home-page "https://github.com/vercel/ms")
     (synopsis "Tiny millisecond conversion utility")
@@ -1045,20 +986,15 @@ (define-public node-debug
        (modify-phases %standard-phases
          (add-after 'patch-dependencies 'delete-dependencies
            (lambda args
-             (with-atomic-json-file-replacement "package.json"
-               (lambda (pkg-meta)
-                 (delete-dependencies pkg-meta `("brfs"
-                                                 "browserify"
-                                                 "coveralls"
-                                                 "istanbul"
-                                                 "karma"
-                                                 "karma-browserify"
-                                                 "karma-chrome-launcher"
-                                                 "karma-mocha"
-                                                 "mocha"
-                                                 "mocha-lcov-reporter"
-                                                 "xo"
-                                                 "supports-color")))))))
+             (delete-dependencies
+              `("^brfs$"
+                "^browserify$"
+                "^coveralls$"
+                "^istanbul$"
+                "^karma"
+                "^mocha"
+                "^xo$"
+                "^supports-color$")))))
        #:tests? #f))
     (home-page "https://github.com/debug-js/debug")
     (synopsis "Lightweight debugging utility for Node.js and the browser")
@@ -1173,12 +1109,10 @@ (define-public node-serialport-bindings
              (chdir "packages/bindings")))
          (add-after 'patch-dependencies 'delete-dependencies
            (lambda args
-             (with-atomic-json-file-replacement "package.json"
-               (lambda (pkg-meta)
-                 (delete-dependencies pkg-meta `("prebuild-install"
-                                                 ;; devDependencies
-                                                 "@serialport/binding-mock"
-                                                 "node-abi"))))))
+             (delete-dependencies `("^prebuild-install$"
+                                    ;; devDependencies
+                                    "^@serialport/binding-mock$"
+                                    "^node-abi$"))))
          (add-after 'chdir 'avoid-prebuild-install
            (lambda args
              (with-atomic-json-file-replacement "package.json"
@@ -1330,11 +1264,8 @@ (define-public node-serialport-stream
        (modify-phases %standard-phases
          (add-after 'patch-dependencies 'delete-dependencies
            (lambda args
-             (with-atomic-json-file-replacement "package.json"
-               (lambda (pkg-meta)
-                 (delete-dependencies pkg-meta
-                                      `(;; devDependencies
-                                        "@serialport/binding-mock"))))))
+             (delete-dependencies `(;; devDependencies
+                                    "^@serialport/binding-mock$"))))
          (add-after 'unpack 'chdir
            (lambda args
              (chdir "packages/stream"))))
@@ -1370,10 +1301,8 @@ (define-public node-serialport
        (modify-phases %standard-phases
          (add-after 'patch-dependencies 'delete-dependencies
            (lambda args
-             (with-atomic-json-file-replacement "package.json"
-               (lambda (pkg-meta)
-                 (delete-dependencies pkg-meta
-                                      `("@serialport/binding-mock"))))))
+             (delete-dependencies `("^@serialport/binding-mock$"))
+             ))
          (add-after 'unpack 'chdir
            (lambda args
              (chdir "packages/serialport"))))
diff --git a/gnu/packages/node.scm b/gnu/packages/node.scm
index 5a4401e779..49e6323a9d 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/node.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/node.scm
@@ -348,9 +348,7 @@ (define-public node-semver-bootstrap
        (modify-phases %standard-phases
          (add-after 'patch-dependencies 'delete-dependencies
            (lambda args
-             (with-atomic-json-file-replacement "package.json"
-               (lambda (pkg-meta)
-                 (delete-dependencies pkg-meta '("tap")))))))))
+             (delete-dependencies '("^tap$")))))))
     (home-page "https://github.com/npm/node-semver")
     (properties '((hidden? . #t)))
     (synopsis "Parses semantic versions strings")
@@ -381,13 +379,11 @@ (define-public node-ms-bootstrap
        (modify-phases %standard-phases
          (add-after 'patch-dependencies 'delete-dependencies
            (lambda args
-             (with-atomic-json-file-replacement "package.json"
-               (lambda (pkg-meta)
-                 (delete-dependencies pkg-meta '("eslint"
-                                                 "expect.js"
-                                                 "husky"
-                                                 "lint-staged"
-                                                 "mocha")))))))))
+             (delete-dependencies '("^eslint$"
+                                    "^expect\\.js$"
+                                    "^husky$"
+                                    "^lint-staged$"
+                                    "^mocha$")))))))
     (home-page "https://github.com/zeit/ms#readme")
     (properties '((hidden? . #t)))
     (synopsis "Tiny millisecond conversion utility")
@@ -417,10 +413,7 @@ (define-public node-binary-search-bootstrap
        (modify-phases %standard-phases
          (add-after 'patch-dependencies 'delete-dependencies
            (lambda args
-             (with-atomic-json-file-replacement "package.json"
-               (lambda (pkg-meta)
-                 (delete-dependencies pkg-meta `("chai"
-                                                 "mocha")))))))))
+             (delete-dependencies `("^(chai\|mocha)$")))))))
     (home-page "https://github.com/darkskyapp/binary-search#readme")
     (properties '((hidden? . #t)))
     (synopsis "Tiny binary search function with comparators")
@@ -449,20 +442,13 @@ (define-public node-debug-bootstrap
        (modify-phases %standard-phases
          (add-after 'patch-dependencies 'delete-dependencies
            (lambda args
-             (with-atomic-json-file-replacement "package.json"
-               (lambda (pkg-meta)
-                 (delete-dependencies pkg-meta
-                                      `("brfs"
-                                        "browserify"
-                                        "coveralls"
-                                        "istanbul"
-                                        "karma"
-                                        "karma-browserify"
-                                        "karma-chrome-launcher"
-                                        "karma-mocha"
-                                        "mocha"
-                                        "mocha-lcov-reporter"
-                                        "xo")))))))))
+             (delete-dependencies `("^brfs$"
+                                    "^browserify$"
+                                    "^coveralls$"
+                                    "^istanbul$"
+                                    "^karma"
+                                    "^mocha"
+                                    "^xo$")))))))
     (inputs (list node-ms-bootstrap))
     (home-page "https://github.com/visionmedia/debug#readme")
     (properties '((hidden? . #t)))
@@ -517,15 +503,12 @@ (define-public node-llparse-builder-bootstrap
        #:phases
        (modify-phases %standard-phases
          (add-after 'patch-dependencies 'delete-dependencies
-           (lambda args
-             (with-atomic-json-file-replacement "package.json"
-               (lambda (pkg-meta)
-                 (delete-dependencies pkg-meta `("@types/mocha"
-                                                 "@types/node"
-                                                 "mocha"
-                                                 "ts-node"
-                                                 "tslint"
-                                                 "typescript"))))))
+           (lambda _
+             (delete-dependencies `("^@types/node$"
+                                    "mocha$"
+                                    "^ts-node$"
+                                    "^tslint$"
+                                    "^typescript$"))))
          (replace 'build
            (lambda* (#:key inputs #:allow-other-keys)
              (let ((esbuild (search-input-file inputs "/bin/esbuild")))
@@ -581,15 +564,13 @@ (define-public node-llparse-frontend-bootstrap
        (modify-phases %standard-phases
          (add-after 'patch-dependencies 'delete-dependencies
            (lambda args
-             (with-atomic-json-file-replacement "package.json"
-               (lambda (pkg-meta)
-                 (delete-dependencies pkg-meta `("@types/debug"
-                                                 "@types/mocha"
-                                                 "@types/node"
-                                                 "mocha"
-                                                 "ts-node"
-                                                 "tslint"
-                                                 "typescript"))))))
+             (delete-dependencies `("^@types/debug$"
+                                    "^@types/mocha$"
+                                    "^@types/node$"
+                                    "^mocha$"
+                                    "^ts-node$"
+                                    "^tslint$"
+                                    "^typescript$"))))
          (replace 'build
            (lambda* (#:key inputs #:allow-other-keys)
              (let ((esbuild (search-input-file inputs "/bin/esbuild")))
@@ -644,18 +625,15 @@ (define-public node-llparse-bootstrap
        (modify-phases %standard-phases
          (add-after 'patch-dependencies 'delete-dependencies
            (lambda args
-             (with-atomic-json-file-replacement "package.json"
-               (lambda (pkg-meta)
-                 (delete-dependencies pkg-meta
-                                      `("@types/debug"
-                                        "@types/mocha"
-                                        "@types/node"
-                                        "esm"
-                                        "llparse-test-fixture"
-                                        "mocha"
-                                        "ts-node"
-                                        "tslint"
-                                        "typescript"))))))
+             (delete-dependencies `("^@types/debug$"
+                                    "^@types/mocha$"
+                                    "^@types/node$"
+                                    "^esm$"
+                                    "^llparse-test-fixture$"
+                                    "^mocha$"
+                                    "^ts-node$"
+                                    "^tslint$"
+                                    "^typescript$"))))
          (replace 'build
            (lambda* (#:key inputs #:allow-other-keys)
              (let ((esbuild (search-input-file inputs "/bin/esbuild")))