diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2009.xml b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2009.xml
index 4122a1fb8e5..d6e5826fda1 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2009.xml
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2009.xml
@@ -268,6 +268,11 @@ GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO 'mysql'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;
   </para>
 
   <itemizedlist>
+   <listitem>
+    <para>
+     The <link linkend="opt-services.matrix-synapse.enable">matrix-synapse</link> module no longer includes optional dependencies by default, they have to be added through the <link linkend="opt-services.matrix-synapse.plugins">plugins</link> option.
+    </para>
+   </listitem>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      <literal>buildGoModule</literal> now internally creates a vendor directory
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/misc/matrix-synapse.nix b/nixos/modules/services/misc/matrix-synapse.nix
index 3eb1073387f..7f42184735c 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/misc/matrix-synapse.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/misc/matrix-synapse.nix
@@ -131,7 +131,12 @@ in {
       plugins = mkOption {
         type = types.listOf types.package;
         default = [ ];
-        defaultText = "with config.services.matrix-synapse.package.plugins [ matrix-synapse-ldap3 matrix-synapse-pam ]";
+        example = literalExample ''
+          with config.services.matrix-synapse.package.plugins; [
+            matrix-synapse-ldap3
+            matrix-synapse-pam
+          ];
+        '';
         description = ''
           List of additional Matrix plugins to make available.
         '';