diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/nixos-rebuild/nixos-rebuild.sh b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/nixos-rebuild/nixos-rebuild.sh
index b0363fa7a7cc..b58c3b60bf9a 100755
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/nixos-rebuild/nixos-rebuild.sh
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/nixos-rebuild/nixos-rebuild.sh
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ rollback=
 upgrade=
 upgrade_all=
 profile=/nix/var/nix/profiles/system
-buildHost=
+buildHost=localhost
 targetHost=
 maybeSudo=()