diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2605.section.md b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2605.section.md
index f88d88fe2ca0..b02c461e9bc7 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2605.section.md
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2605.section.md
@@ -125,6 +125,8 @@ See <https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/481673>.
 
 - support for `ecryptfs` in nixpkgs has been removed.
 
+- `programs.light` was removed from nixpkgs due to the corresponding package being unmaintained upstream. `brightnessctl` and `programs.acpilight` offer replacements.
+
 - The `networking.wireless` module has been security hardened by default: the `wpa_supplicant` daemon now runs under an unprivileged user with restricted access to the system.
 
   As part of these changes, `/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf` has been deprecated: the NixOS-generated configuration file is now linked to `/etc/wpa_supplicant/nixos.conf` and `/etc/wpa_supplicant/imperative.conf` has been added for imperatively configuring `wpa_supplicant` or when using [allowAuxiliaryImperativeNetworks](#opt-networking.wireless.allowAuxiliaryImperativeNetworks).
diff --git a/nixos/modules/module-list.nix b/nixos/modules/module-list.nix
index 5903916b62a7..6c7ab8d20026 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/module-list.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/module-list.nix
@@ -256,7 +256,6 @@
   ./programs/lazygit.nix
   ./programs/less.nix
   ./programs/liboping.nix
-  ./programs/light.nix
   ./programs/lix.nix
   ./programs/localsend.nix
   ./programs/mdevctl.nix
diff --git a/nixos/modules/programs/light.nix b/nixos/modules/programs/light.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index 7c859aa1bbfc..000000000000
--- a/nixos/modules/programs/light.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,92 +0,0 @@
-{
-  config,
-  lib,
-  pkgs,
-  ...
-}:
-
-let
-  cfg = config.programs.light;
-
-in
-{
-  options = {
-    programs.light = {
-
-      enable = lib.mkOption {
-        default = false;
-        type = lib.types.bool;
-        description = ''
-          Whether to install Light backlight control command
-          and udev rules granting access to members of the "video" group.
-        '';
-      };
-
-      brightnessKeys = {
-        enable = lib.mkOption {
-          type = lib.types.bool;
-          default = false;
-          description = ''
-            Whether to enable brightness control with keyboard keys.
-
-            This is mainly useful for minimalistic (desktop) environments. You
-            may want to leave this disabled if you run a feature-rich desktop
-            environment such as KDE, GNOME or Xfce as those handle the
-            brightness keys themselves. However, enabling brightness control
-            with this setting makes the control independent of X, so the keys
-            work in non-graphical ttys, so you might want to consider using this
-            instead of the default offered by the desktop environment.
-
-            Enabling this will turn on {option}`services.actkbd`.
-          '';
-        };
-
-        step = lib.mkOption {
-          type = lib.types.int;
-          default = 10;
-          description = ''
-            The percentage value by which to increase/decrease brightness.
-          '';
-        };
-
-        minBrightness = lib.mkOption {
-          type = lib.types.numbers.between 0 100;
-          default = 0.1;
-          description = ''
-            The minimum authorized brightness value, e.g. to avoid the
-            display going dark.
-          '';
-        };
-
-      };
-
-    };
-  };
-
-  config = lib.mkIf cfg.enable {
-    environment.systemPackages = [ pkgs.light ];
-    services.udev.packages = [ pkgs.light ];
-    services.actkbd = lib.mkIf cfg.brightnessKeys.enable {
-      enable = true;
-      bindings =
-        let
-          light = "${pkgs.light}/bin/light";
-          step = toString cfg.brightnessKeys.step;
-          minBrightness = toString cfg.brightnessKeys.minBrightness;
-        in
-        [
-          {
-            keys = [ 224 ];
-            events = [ "key" ];
-            # -N is used to ensure that value >= minBrightness
-            command = "${light} -N ${minBrightness} && ${light} -U ${step}";
-          }
-          {
-            keys = [ 225 ];
-            events = [ "key" ];
-            command = "${light} -A ${step}";
-          }
-        ];
-    };
-  };
-}
diff --git a/nixos/modules/rename.nix b/nixos/modules/rename.nix
index b3225443abc1..68f89cf0c27b 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/rename.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/rename.nix
@@ -235,6 +235,9 @@ in
       "Atlassian software has been removed, as support for the Atlassian Server products ended in February 2024 and there was insufficient interest in maintaining the Atlassian Data Center replacements"
     )
     (mkRemovedOptionModule [ "services" "kippo" ] "The corresponding package was removed from nixpkgs.")
+    (mkRemovedOptionModule [ "programs" "light" ]
+      "The corresponding package was removed from nixpkgs due to being unmaintained upstream. `brightnessctl` and `hardware.acpilight` offer replacements."
+    )
     (mkRemovedOptionModule [ "services" "lshd" ]
       "The corresponding package was removed from nixpkgs as it had no maintainer in Nixpkgs and hasn't seen an upstream release in over a decades."
     )