diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/ni/nixos-rebuild-ng/src/tests/test_main.py b/pkgs/by-name/ni/nixos-rebuild-ng/src/tests/test_main.py
index 9337fda44dc0..913103985f66 100644
--- a/pkgs/by-name/ni/nixos-rebuild-ng/src/tests/test_main.py
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/ni/nixos-rebuild-ng/src/tests/test_main.py
@@ -445,6 +445,35 @@ def test_execute_switch_rollback(mock_run: Any, tmp_path: Path) -> None:
     )
 
 
+@patch(get_qualified_name(nr.process.subprocess.run), autospec=True)
+def test_execute_build(mock_run: Any, tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    config_path = tmp_path / "test"
+    config_path.touch()
+    mock_run.side_effect = [
+        # nixos_build_flake
+        CompletedProcess([], 0, str(config_path)),
+    ]
+
+    nr.execute(["nixos-rebuild", "build", "--no-flake", "--fast"])
+
+    assert mock_run.call_count == 1
+    mock_run.assert_has_calls(
+        [
+            call(
+                [
+                    "nix-build",
+                    "<nixpkgs/nixos>",
+                    "--attr",
+                    "config.system.build.toplevel",
+                ],
+                check=True,
+                stdout=PIPE,
+                **DEFAULT_RUN_KWARGS,
+            )
+        ]
+    )
+
+
 @patch(get_qualified_name(nr.process.subprocess.run), autospec=True)
 @patch(get_qualified_name(nr.nix.Path.exists, nr.nix), autospec=True, return_value=True)
 @patch(get_qualified_name(nr.nix.Path.mkdir, nr.nix), autospec=True)