diff --git a/nix/t1/conversion/sv-to-vcs-simulator.nix b/nix/t1/conversion/sv-to-vcs-simulator.nix
index 91b59d9cc..6a27cc1d7 100644
--- a/nix/t1/conversion/sv-to-vcs-simulator.nix
+++ b/nix/t1/conversion/sv-to-vcs-simulator.nix
@@ -17,6 +17,10 @@
 assert lib.assertMsg (builtins.typeOf vsrc == "list") "vsrc should be a list of file path";
 assert lib.assertMsg (builtins.typeOf vcsLinkLibs == "list") "vcsLinkLibs should be list of strings";
 
+# Technically we could static link some libs and rtlink others,
+# but currently we don't use it in such a way, so just assert it to catch error
+assert lib.assertMsg (vcsLinkLibs != [] -> rtLinkDpiLib) "vcsLinkLibs and rtLinkDpiLib are both set";
+
 let
   # VCS simulation profiling
   # This is a debug feature, thus intentionally not exposed
diff --git a/nix/t1/run/default.nix b/nix/t1/run/default.nix
index 68a8743c6..1c5366a71 100644
--- a/nix/t1/run/default.nix
+++ b/nix/t1/run/default.nix
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 , verilator-emu
 , verilator-emu-trace
 , vcs-emu
-, vcs-emu-rtlink
 , vcs-emu-cover
 , vcs-emu-trace
 , vcs-dpi-lib
@@ -44,7 +43,7 @@ let
 
             vcs-emu = runEmu {
               inherit testCase;
-              emulator = vcs-emu-rtlink;
+              emulator = vcs-emu;
             };
 
             vcs-emu-trace = runEmu {
@@ -73,7 +72,7 @@ let
 
             vcs-prof-vcd = runFsdb2vcd (runEmu {
               inherit testCase;
-              emulator = vcs-emu-rtlink;
+              emulator = vcs-emu;
               emuExtraArgs = {
                 vcsDpiLib = vcs-dpi-lib;
               };
diff --git a/nix/t1/t1.nix b/nix/t1/t1.nix
index 5e93b491b..15ce5b426 100644
--- a/nix/t1/t1.nix
+++ b/nix/t1/t1.nix
@@ -140,17 +140,19 @@ forEachTop (topName: generator: self: {
 
   inherit (t1Scope) sim-checker;
 
+  # We do not use vcs-emu-static every day,
+  # but we may switch back to static once rtLink breaks
+  vcs-emu-static = self.vcs-emu.override {
+    mainProgram = "${topName}-vcs-simulator-static";
+    vcsLinkLibs = [ "${self.vcs-dpi-lib}/lib/libdpi_${topName}.a" ];
+    rtLinkDpiLib = null;
+  };
+
   vcs-emu = t1Scope.sv-to-vcs-simulator {
     mainProgram = "${topName}-vcs-simulator";
     topModule = "TestBench";
     rtl = self.rtl;
     vsrc = lib.filesystem.listFilesRecursive self.clean-vsrc.outPath;
-    vcsLinkLibs = [ "${self.vcs-dpi-lib}/lib/libdpi_${topName}.a" ];
-    rtLinkDpiLib = self.vcs-dpi-lib;
-  };
-  vcs-emu-rtlink = self.vcs-emu.override {
-    mainProgram = "${topName}-vcs-simulator-rtlink";
-    vcsLinkLibs = [ ];
     rtLinkDpiLib = self.vcs-dpi-lib;
   };
   vcs-emu-cover = self.vcs-emu.override {