diff --git a/modules/system/boot/kernel.nix b/modules/system/boot/kernel.nix
index 3b0e84a730f..6320526a31c 100644
--- a/modules/system/boot/kernel.nix
+++ b/modules/system/boot/kernel.nix
@@ -134,7 +134,42 @@ let
 
       };
     };
+
+    system.modulesTree = mkOption {
+      internal = true;
+      default = [];
+      description = "
+        Tree of kernel modules.  This includes the kernel, plus modules
+        built outside of the kernel.  Combine these into a single tree of
+        symlinks because modprobe only supports one directory.
+      ";
+      merge = pkgs.lib.mergeListOption;
+
+      # Convert the list of path to only one path.
+      apply = pkgs.aggregateModules;
+    };
+
+    system.sbin.modprobe = mkOption {
+      # should be moved in module-init-tools
+      internal = true;
+      default = pkgs.writeTextFile {
+        name = "modprobe";
+        destination = "/sbin/modprobe";
+        executable = true;
+        text =
+          ''
+            #! ${pkgs.stdenv.shell}
+            export MODULE_DIR=${config.system.modulesTree}/lib/modules
+            exec ${pkgs.module_init_tools}/sbin/modprobe "$@"
+          '';
+      };
+      description = ''
+        Wrapper around modprobe that sets the path to the modules
+        tree.
+      '';
+    };
   };
+  
 in
 
 ###### implementation
diff --git a/system/modprobe b/system/modprobe
deleted file mode 100644
index 293d9bbfd5f..00000000000
--- a/system/modprobe
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-#! @shell@
-export MODULE_DIR=@modulesTree@/lib/modules
-exec @module_init_tools@/sbin/modprobe "$@"
diff --git a/system/options.nix b/system/options.nix
index 8a686cd9ee1..63ef9bc94a3 100644
--- a/system/options.nix
+++ b/system/options.nix
@@ -95,37 +95,7 @@ in
         };
     };
 
-    modulesTree = mkOption {
-      internal = true;
-      default = [];
-      description = "
-        Tree of kernel modules.  This includes the kernel, plus modules
-        built outside of the kernel.  Combine these into a single tree of
-        symlinks because modprobe only supports one directory.
-      ";
-      merge = pkgs.lib.mergeListOption;
-
-      # Convert the list of path to only one path.
-      apply = pkgs.aggregateModules;
-    };
-
     sbin = {
-      modprobe = mkOption {
-        # should be moved in module-init-tools
-        internal = true;
-        default = pkgs.substituteAll {
-          dir = "sbin";
-          src = ./modprobe;
-          isExecutable = true;
-          inherit (pkgs) module_init_tools;
-          inherit (config.system) modulesTree;
-        };
-        description = ''
-          Wrapper around modprobe that sets the path to the modules
-          tree.
-        '';
-      };
-
       # !!! The mount option should not stay in /system/option.nix
       mount = mkOption {
         internal = true;