diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/web-apps/immich.nix b/nixos/modules/services/web-apps/immich.nix
index a45a4d5492cc..eaa0e3b0b403 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/web-apps/immich.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/web-apps/immich.nix
@@ -380,6 +380,8 @@ in
       MACHINE_LEARNING_WORKERS = "1";
       MACHINE_LEARNING_WORKER_TIMEOUT = "120";
       MACHINE_LEARNING_CACHE_FOLDER = "/var/cache/immich";
+      # TODO: drop when insightface no longer unconditionally imports matplotlib
+      MPLCONFIGDIR = "/var/cache/immich";
       XDG_CACHE_HOME = "/var/cache/immich";
       IMMICH_HOST = "localhost";
       IMMICH_PORT = "3003";