diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/x11/xserver.nix b/nixos/modules/services/x11/xserver.nix
index b33e6f4ddda1..e939931f8139 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/x11/xserver.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/x11/xserver.nix
@@ -512,6 +512,7 @@ in
       externallyConfiguredDrivers = mkOption {
         type = types.listOf types.str;
         internal = true;
+        default = [ ];
         description = ''
           A list of externally configured drivers (by name). Modules that
           manually configure their drivers should add said drivers to this