diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/from_md/release-notes/rl-2205.section.xml b/nixos/doc/manual/from_md/release-notes/rl-2205.section.xml
index 612846122a70..a6c3fdd1ed23 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/from_md/release-notes/rl-2205.section.xml
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/from_md/release-notes/rl-2205.section.xml
@@ -716,6 +716,19 @@
           <link xlink:href="https://github.com/olimorris/onedarkpro.nvim">olimorris/onedarkpro.nvim</link>).
         </para>
       </listitem>
+      <listitem>
+        <para>
+          <literal>services.pipewire.enable</literal> will default to
+          enabling the WirePlumber session manager instead of
+          pipewire-media-session. pipewire-media-session is deprecated
+          by upstream and not recommended, but can still be manually
+          enabled by setting
+          <literal>services.pipewire.media-session.enable</literal> to
+          <literal>true</literal> and
+          <literal>services.pipewire.wireplumber.enable</literal> to
+          <literal>false</literal>.
+        </para>
+      </listitem>
     </itemizedlist>
   </section>
   <section xml:id="sec-release-22.05-notable-changes">
diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2205.section.md b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2205.section.md
index a8017f26708a..d55a45f8b2b1 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2205.section.md
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2205.section.md
@@ -223,6 +223,10 @@ In addition to numerous new and upgraded packages, this release has the followin
 - `pkgs.vimPlugins.onedark-nvim` now refers to [navarasu/onedark.nvim](https://github.com/navarasu/onedark.nvim)
   (formerly refers to [olimorris/onedarkpro.nvim](https://github.com/olimorris/onedarkpro.nvim)).
 
+- `services.pipewire.enable` will default to enabling the WirePlumber session manager instead of pipewire-media-session.
+  pipewire-media-session is deprecated by upstream and not recommended, but can still be manually enabled by setting
+  `services.pipewire.media-session.enable` to `true` and `services.pipewire.wireplumber.enable` to `false`.
+
 <!-- To avoid merge conflicts, consider adding your item at an arbitrary place in the list instead. -->
 
 ## Other Notable Changes {#sec-release-22.05-notable-changes}
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/desktops/pipewire/pipewire-media-session.nix b/nixos/modules/services/desktops/pipewire/pipewire-media-session.nix
index f7a03a4a3eaf..109c91134b99 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/desktops/pipewire/pipewire-media-session.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/desktops/pipewire/pipewire-media-session.nix
@@ -38,9 +38,8 @@ in {
     services.pipewire.media-session = {
       enable = mkOption {
         type = types.bool;
-        default = config.services.pipewire.enable;
-        defaultText = literalExpression "config.services.pipewire.enable";
-        description = "Example pipewire session manager";
+        default = false;
+        description = "Whether to enable the deprecated example Pipewire session manager";
       };
 
       package = mkOption {
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/desktops/pipewire/wireplumber.nix b/nixos/modules/services/desktops/pipewire/wireplumber.nix
index ad96dc1f9745..52ec17b95db4 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/desktops/pipewire/wireplumber.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/desktops/pipewire/wireplumber.nix
@@ -8,15 +8,18 @@ in
 
   options = {
     services.pipewire.wireplumber = {
-      enable = lib.mkEnableOption "A modular session / policy manager for PipeWire";
+      enable = lib.mkOption {
+        type = lib.types.bool;
+        default = config.services.pipewire.enable;
+        defaultText = lib.literalExpression "config.services.pipewire.enable";
+        description = "Whether to enable Wireplumber, a modular session / policy manager for PipeWire";
+      };
 
       package = lib.mkOption {
         type = lib.types.package;
         default = pkgs.wireplumber;
         defaultText = lib.literalExpression "pkgs.wireplumber";
-        description = ''
-          The wireplumber derivation to use.
-        '';
+        description = "The wireplumber derivation to use.";
       };
     };
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/pipewire/wireplumber.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/pipewire/wireplumber.nix
index 9ab197278d0a..cde73edf7904 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/pipewire/wireplumber.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/pipewire/wireplumber.nix
@@ -67,6 +67,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     "-Delogind=disabled"
     "-Ddoc=${mesonEnableFeature enableDocs}"
     "-Dintrospection=${mesonEnableFeature enableGI}"
+    "-Dsystemd-system-service=true"
+    "-Dsystemd-system-unit-dir=${placeholder "out"}/lib/systemd/system"
   ];
 
   passthru.updateScript = nix-update-script {