diff --git a/modules/services/web-servers/lighttpd/default.nix b/modules/services/web-servers/lighttpd/default.nix
index 326ed76bd40..588fece257e 100644
--- a/modules/services/web-servers/lighttpd/default.nix
+++ b/modules/services/web-servers/lighttpd/default.nix
@@ -36,6 +36,11 @@ let
       static-file.exclude-extensions = ( ".fcgi", ".php", ".rb", "~", ".inc" )
       index-file.names = ( "index.html" )
 
+      ${if cfg.mod_userdir then ''
+        server.modules += ("mod_userdir")
+        userdir.path = "public_html"
+      '' else ""}
+
       ${cfg.extraConfig}
     '';
 
@@ -71,6 +76,15 @@ in
         '';
       };
 
+      mod_userdir = mkOption {
+        default = false;
+        type = types.uniq types.bool;
+        description = ''
+          If true, requests in the form /~user/page.html are rewritten to take
+          the file public_html/page.html from the home directory of the user.
+        '';
+      };
+
       configText = mkOption {
         default = "";
         type = types.string;