diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/ge/gemini-cli-bin/package.nix b/pkgs/by-name/ge/gemini-cli-bin/package.nix
index 03384973e181..45132b79ec46 100644
--- a/pkgs/by-name/ge/gemini-cli-bin/package.nix
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/ge/gemini-cli-bin/package.nix
@@ -25,7 +25,16 @@ stdenvNoCC.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
     runHook preInstall
 
     install -D "$src" "$out/bin/gemini"
-    sed -i '/disableAutoUpdate: {/,/}/ s/default: false/default: true/' "$out/bin/gemini"
+
+    # ideal method to disable auto-update
+    sed -i '/disableautoupdate: {/,/}/ s/default: false/default: true/' "$out/bin/gemini"
+
+    # disable auto-update for real because the default value in settingsschema isn't cleanly applied
+    # https://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli/issues/13569
+    substituteInPlace $out/bin/gemini \
+      --replace-fail "settings.merged.general?.disableUpdateNag" "(settings.merged.general?.disableUpdateNag ?? true)" \
+      --replace-fail "settings.merged.general?.disableAutoUpdate ?? false" "settings.merged.general?.disableAutoUpdate ?? true" \
+      --replace-fail "settings.merged.general?.disableAutoUpdate" "(settings.merged.general?.disableAutoUpdate ?? true)"
 
     runHook postInstall
   '';