diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/misc/ssm-agent.nix b/nixos/modules/services/misc/ssm-agent.nix
index e50b07e0b86..c29d03d199b 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/misc/ssm-agent.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/misc/ssm-agent.nix
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@ in {
     package = mkOption {
       type = types.path;
       description = "The SSM agent package to use";
-      default = pkgs.ssm-agent;
-      defaultText = "pkgs.ssm-agent";
+      default = pkgs.ssm-agent.override { overrideEtc = false; };
+      defaultText = "pkgs.ssm-agent.override { overrideEtc = false; }";
     };
   };
 
@@ -37,8 +37,10 @@ in {
       serviceConfig = {
         ExecStart = "${cfg.package}/bin/amazon-ssm-agent";
         KillMode = "process";
-        Restart = "on-failure";
-        RestartSec = "15min";
+        # We want this restating pretty frequently. It could be our only means
+        # of accessing the instance.
+        Restart = "always";
+        RestartSec = "1min";
       };
     };
 
@@ -62,5 +64,10 @@ in {
       isNormalUser = true;
       group = "ssm-user";
     };
+
+    environment.etc."amazon/ssm/seelog.xml".source = "${cfg.package}/seelog.xml.template";
+
+    environment.etc."amazon/ssm/amazon-ssm-agent.json".source =  "${cfg.package}/etc/amazon/ssm/amazon-ssm-agent.json.template";
+
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/networking/cluster/ssm-agent/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/networking/cluster/ssm-agent/default.nix
index 79cf13b4269..86b48633c25 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/networking/cluster/ssm-agent/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/networking/cluster/ssm-agent/default.nix
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 , dmidecode
 , util-linux
 , bashInteractive
+, overrideEtc ? true
 }:
 
 let
@@ -63,10 +64,10 @@ buildGoPackage rec {
     substituteInPlace agent/session/shell/shell_unix.go \
         --replace '"script"' '"${util-linux}/bin/script"'
 
-    substituteInPlace agent/appconfig/constants_unix.go \
-        --replace '"/etc/amazon/ssm/"' '"${placeholder "out"}/etc/amazon/ssm/"'
-
     echo "${version}" > VERSION
+  '' + lib.optionalString overrideEtc ''
+    substituteInPlace agent/appconfig/constants_unix.go \
+      --replace '"/etc/amazon/ssm/"' '"${placeholder "out"}/etc/amazon/ssm/"'
   '';
 
   preBuild = ''