diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/nixos-rebuild/default.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/nixos-rebuild/default.nix
index 08bba5a428d1..58712835d60f 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/nixos-rebuild/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/nixos-rebuild/default.nix
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 , gnugrep
 , nix
 , lib
+, nixosTests
 }:
 let
   fallback = import ./../../../../nixos/modules/installer/tools/nix-fallback-paths.nix;
@@ -19,4 +20,9 @@ substituteAll {
   nix_i686_linux = fallback.i686-linux;
   nix_aarch64_linux = fallback.aarch64-linux;
   path = lib.makeBinPath [ coreutils gnused gnugrep ];
+
+  # run some a simple installer tests to make sure nixos-rebuild still works for them
+  passthru.tests = {
+    simple-installer-test = nixosTests.installer.simple;
+  };
 }