diff --git a/nixos/modules/rename.nix b/nixos/modules/rename.nix
index 7b75ca85219..d9d399e3481 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/rename.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/rename.nix
@@ -202,5 +202,7 @@ with lib;
       "See the 16.09 release notes for more information.")
     (mkRemovedOptionModule [ "services" "phpfpm" "phpIni" ] "")
     (mkRemovedOptionModule [ "services" "dovecot2" "package" ] "")
+    (mkRemovedOptionModule [ "services" "xserver" "displayManager" "sddm" "themes" ]
+      "Set the option `services.xserver.displayManager.sddm.package' instead.")
   ];
 }
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/x11/desktop-managers/plasma5.nix b/nixos/modules/services/x11/desktop-managers/plasma5.nix
index e3fc3340c95..918841e8f16 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/x11/desktop-managers/plasma5.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/x11/desktop-managers/plasma5.nix
@@ -208,10 +208,7 @@ in
 
       services.xserver.displayManager.sddm = {
         theme = "breeze";
-        themes = [
-          plasma5.plasma-workspace
-          pkgs.breeze-icons
-        ];
+        package = pkgs.sddmPlasma5;
       };
 
       security.pam.services.kde = { allowNullPassword = true; };
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/x11/display-managers/sddm.nix b/nixos/modules/services/x11/display-managers/sddm.nix
index 6630b8257e4..affc1261d19 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/x11/display-managers/sddm.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/x11/display-managers/sddm.nix
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ let
   cfg = dmcfg.sddm;
   xEnv = config.systemd.services."display-manager".environment;
 
-  sddm = pkgs.sddm.override { inherit (cfg) themes; };
+  sddm = cfg.package;
 
   xserverWrapper = pkgs.writeScript "xserver-wrapper" ''
     #!/bin/sh
@@ -105,11 +105,12 @@ in
         '';
       };
 
-      themes = mkOption {
-        type = types.listOf types.package;
-        default = [];
+      package = mkOption {
+        type = types.package;
+        default = pkgs.sddm;
         description = ''
-          Extra packages providing themes.
+          The SDDM package to install.
+          The default package can be overridden to provide extra themes.
         '';
       };