diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1909.xml b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1909.xml
index e63a6d10a86..4ad81f42b4b 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1909.xml
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1909.xml
@@ -468,6 +468,16 @@
      (which will place the parameters in <literal>/etc/sysctl.d/60-nixos.conf</literal>).
      </para>
    </listitem>
+   <listitem>
+    <para>
+      Coredumps are now acquired by <literal>systemd-coredump</literal> by default.
+      <literal>systemd-coredump</literal> behaviour can still be modified via
+      <option>systemd.coredump.extraConfig</option>.
+      To stick to the old behaviour (having the kernel dump to a file called <literal>core</literal>
+      in the working directory), without piping it through <literal>systemd-coredump</literal>, set
+      <option>boot.kernel.sysctl."kernel.core_pattern"</option> to <literal>"core"</literal>.
+    </para>
+   </listitem>
   </itemizedlist>
  </section>
 </section>
diff --git a/nixos/modules/module-list.nix b/nixos/modules/module-list.nix
index a167336c156..d2de162f70c 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/module-list.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/module-list.nix
@@ -862,7 +862,6 @@
   ./system/activation/activation-script.nix
   ./system/activation/top-level.nix
   ./system/boot/binfmt.nix
-  ./system/boot/coredump.nix
   ./system/boot/emergency-mode.nix
   ./system/boot/grow-partition.nix
   ./system/boot/initrd-network.nix
diff --git a/nixos/modules/rename.nix b/nixos/modules/rename.nix
index 3ea139fc5ce..e32fa6fded4 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/rename.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/rename.nix
@@ -226,6 +226,7 @@ with lib;
     (mkRemovedOptionModule [ "services" "mysql" "rootPassword" ] "Use socket authentication or set the password outside of the nix store.")
     (mkRemovedOptionModule [ "services" "zabbixServer" "dbPassword" ] "Use services.zabbixServer.database.passwordFile instead.")
     (mkRemovedOptionModule [ "systemd" "generator-packages" ] "Use systemd.packages instead.")
+    (mkRemovedOptionModule [ "systemd" "coredump" "enable" ] "Enabled by default. Set boot.kernel.sysctl.\"kernel.core_pattern\" = \"core\"; to disable.")
 
     # ZSH
     (mkRenamedOptionModule [ "programs" "zsh" "enableSyntaxHighlighting" ] [ "programs" "zsh" "syntaxHighlighting" "enable" ])
diff --git a/nixos/modules/system/boot/coredump.nix b/nixos/modules/system/boot/coredump.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index 30f367da766..00000000000
--- a/nixos/modules/system/boot/coredump.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,66 +0,0 @@
-{ config, lib, pkgs, ... }:
-
-with lib;
-
-{
-
-  options = {
-
-    systemd.coredump = {
-
-      enable = mkOption {
-        default = false;
-        type = types.bool;
-        description = ''
-          Enables storing core dumps in systemd.
-          Note that this alone is not enough to enable core dumps. The maximum
-          file size for core dumps must be specified in limits.conf as well. See
-          <option>security.pam.loginLimits</option> and the limits.conf(5)
-          man page (these specify the core dump limits for user login sessions)
-          and <option>systemd.extraConfig</option> (where e.g.
-          <literal>DefaultLimitCORE=1000000</literal> can be specified to set
-          the core dump limit for systemd system-level services).
-        '';
-      };
-
-      extraConfig = mkOption {
-        default = "";
-        type = types.lines;
-        example = "Storage=journal";
-        description = ''
-          Extra config options for systemd-coredump. See coredump.conf(5) man page
-          for available options.
-        '';
-      };
-    };
-
-  };
-
-  config = mkMerge [
-    (mkIf config.systemd.coredump.enable {
-
-      systemd.additionalUpstreamSystemUnits = [ "systemd-coredump.socket" "systemd-coredump@.service" ];
-
-      environment.etc."systemd/coredump.conf".text =
-        ''
-          [Coredump]
-          ${config.systemd.coredump.extraConfig}
-        '';
-
-      # Have the kernel pass core dumps to systemd's coredump helper binary.
-      # From systemd's 50-coredump.conf file. See:
-      # <https://github.com/systemd/systemd/blob/v218/sysctl.d/50-coredump.conf.in>
-      boot.kernel.sysctl."kernel.core_pattern" = "|${pkgs.systemd}/lib/systemd/systemd-coredump %P %u %g %s %t %c %e";
-    })
-
-    (mkIf (!config.systemd.coredump.enable) {
-      boot.kernel.sysctl."kernel.core_pattern" = mkDefault "core";
-
-      systemd.extraConfig =
-        ''
-          DefaultLimitCORE=0:infinity
-        '';
-    })
-  ];
-
-}
diff --git a/nixos/modules/system/boot/systemd.nix b/nixos/modules/system/boot/systemd.nix
index e84b1ffbfc1..23a2dd45d49 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/system/boot/systemd.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/system/boot/systemd.nix
@@ -76,6 +76,10 @@ let
       "systemd-journald-dev-log.socket"
       "syslog.socket"
 
+      # Coredumps.
+      "systemd-coredump.socket"
+      "systemd-coredump@.service"
+
       # SysV init compatibility.
       "systemd-initctl.socket"
       "systemd-initctl.service"
@@ -540,6 +544,16 @@ in
       '';
     };
 
+    systemd.coredump.extraConfig = mkOption {
+      default = "";
+      type = types.lines;
+      example = "Storage=journal";
+      description = ''
+        Extra config options for systemd-coredump. See coredump.conf(5) man page
+        for available options.
+      '';
+    };
+
     systemd.extraConfig = mkOption {
       default = "";
       type = types.lines;
@@ -795,6 +809,7 @@ in
           DefaultMemoryAccounting=yes
           DefaultTasksAccounting=yes
         ''}
+        DefaultLimitCORE=infinity
         ${config.systemd.extraConfig}
       '';
 
@@ -818,6 +833,12 @@ in
         ${config.services.journald.extraConfig}
       '';
 
+      "systemd/coredump.conf".text =
+        ''
+          [Coredump]
+          ${config.systemd.coredump.extraConfig}
+        '';
+
       "systemd/logind.conf".text = ''
         [Login]
         KillUserProcesses=${if config.services.logind.killUserProcesses then "yes" else "no"}