diff --git a/nixos/modules/misc/locate.nix b/nixos/modules/misc/locate.nix
index 1d2bc8c72813..5d2f9a21bc52 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/misc/locate.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/misc/locate.nix
@@ -43,6 +43,9 @@ in {
         The format is described in
         <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.time</refentrytitle>
         <manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
+
+        To disable automatic updates, set to <literal>"never"</literal>
+        and run <command>updatedb</command> manually.
       '';
     };
 
@@ -192,6 +195,18 @@ in {
       { LOCATE_PATH = cfg.output;
       };
 
+    environment.etc = {
+      # write /etc/updatedb.conf for manual calls to `updatedb`
+      "updatedb.conf" = {
+        text = ''
+          PRUNEFS="${lib.concatStringsSep " " cfg.pruneFS}"
+          PRUNENAMES="${lib.concatStringsSep " " cfg.pruneNames}"
+          PRUNEPATHS="${lib.concatStringsSep " " cfg.prunePaths}"
+          PRUNE_BIND_MOUNTSFR="${lib.boolToString cfg.pruneBindMounts}"
+        '';
+      };
+    };
+
     warnings = optional (isMLocate && cfg.localuser != null) "mlocate does not support the services.locate.localuser option; updatedb will run as root. (Silence with services.locate.localuser = null.)"
             ++ optional (isFindutils && cfg.pruneNames != []) "findutils locate does not support pruning by directory component"
             ++ optional (isFindutils && cfg.pruneBindMounts) "findutils locate does not support skipping bind mounts";
@@ -238,7 +253,7 @@ in {
         serviceConfig.ReadWritePaths = dirOf cfg.output;
       };
 
-    systemd.timers.update-locatedb =
+    systemd.timers.update-locatedb = mkIf (cfg.interval != "never")
       { description = "Update timer for locate database";
         partOf      = [ "update-locatedb.service" ];
         wantedBy    = [ "timers.target" ];