diff --git a/nixos/modules/virtualisation/nixos-containers.nix b/nixos/modules/virtualisation/nixos-containers.nix
index 812d22d773e1..a9632563beec 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/virtualisation/nixos-containers.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/virtualisation/nixos-containers.nix
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ let
       chmod 0755 "$root/etc" "$root/var/lib"
       mkdir -p "$root/var/lib/private" "$root/root" /run/nixos-containers
       chmod 0700 "$root/var/lib/private" "$root/root" /run/nixos-containers
-      if ! [ -e "$root/etc/os-release" ]; then
+      if ! [ -e "$root/etc/os-release" ] && ! [ -h "$root/etc/os-release" ]; then
         touch "$root/etc/os-release"
       fi