Incorporation of CdS quantum dots is shown to significantly promote photocatalytic hydrogen production from water over single-layer MoS2 in a remote manner via their dispersions on a carbon nanotube as a nanocomposite: the hydrogen evolution rate is found to be critically dependent on the content and structural integrity of the carbon nanotube such that the double-walled carbon nanotube shows superior H2 production to a single-walled carbon nanotube because the inner carbon tubules survive from the structural damage during functionalization.