diff --git a/nixos/modules/virtualisation/containers.nix b/nixos/modules/virtualisation/containers.nix
index 6adb2c1681a2..001c6473a98e 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/virtualisation/containers.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/virtualisation/containers.nix
@@ -120,7 +120,6 @@ let
 
       # Run systemd-nspawn without startup notification (we'll
       # wait for the container systemd to signal readiness).
-      EXIT_ON_REBOOT=1 \
       exec ${config.systemd.package}/bin/systemd-nspawn \
         --keep-unit \
         -M "$INSTANCE" -D "$root" $extraFlags \