diff --git a/modules/home-environment.nix b/modules/home-environment.nix
index bc131015..4f4904c7 100644
--- a/modules/home-environment.nix
+++ b/modules/home-environment.nix
@@ -618,7 +618,7 @@ in
     home.profileDirectory =
       if config.submoduleSupport.enable && config.submoduleSupport.externalPackageInstall then
         "/etc/profiles/per-user/${cfg.username}"
-      else if config.nix.enable && (config.nix.settings.use-xdg-base-directories or false) then
+      else if config.nix.useXdg then
         "${config.xdg.stateHome}/nix/profile"
       else
         cfg.homeDirectory + "/.nix-profile";
diff --git a/modules/misc/nix.nix b/modules/misc/nix.nix
index c07e0330..11b22296 100644
--- a/modules/misc/nix.nix
+++ b/modules/misc/nix.nix
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 {
   config,
   lib,
+  osConfig,
   pkgs,
   ...
 }:
@@ -21,6 +22,7 @@ let
     isList
     isString
     literalExpression
+    literalMD
     mapAttrsToList
     mkDefault
     mkEnableOption
@@ -41,7 +43,7 @@ let
 
   nixPath = concatStringsSep ":" cfg.nixPath;
 
-  useXdg = config.nix.enable && (config.nix.settings.use-xdg-base-directories or false);
+  inherit (config.nix) useXdg;
   defexprDir =
     if useXdg then
       "${config.xdg.stateHome}/nix/defexpr"
@@ -296,6 +298,30 @@ in
       '';
     };
 
+    assumeXdg = mkOption {
+      type = types.bool;
+      default = false;
+      description = ''
+        Whether Home Manager should assume that Nix is configured to use XDG
+        base directories. Note that this doesn't change the behavior of Nix. To
+        do that, set nix.settings.use-xdg-base-directories instead. This option
+        is intended for settings in which use-xdg-base-directories is set
+        globally or nix.conf is unmanaged by Home Manager.
+      '';
+    };
+
+    useXdg = mkOption {
+      type = types.bool;
+      visible = false;
+      readOnly = true;
+      defaultText = literalMD ''
+        In descending priority:
+        * `true` if `nix.assumeXdg` is `true`
+        * `nix.settings.use-xdg-base-directories` if it is set and `nix.enable` is `true`
+        * `osConfig.nix.settings.use-xdg-base-directories` if it is set and `osConfig.nix.enable` is `true`
+      '';
+    };
+
     extraOptions = mkOption {
       type = types.lines;
       default = "";
@@ -326,39 +352,69 @@ in
     };
   };
 
-  config = mkIf cfg.enable (mkMerge [
-    (mkIf (cfg.nixPath != [ ] && !cfg.keepOldNixPath) {
-      home.sessionVariables.NIX_PATH = "${nixPath}";
-    })
+  config = mkMerge [
+    {
+      nix.useXdg =
+        let
+          # Helper that checks if use-xdg-base-directories is in effect for the
+          # given Nix configuration, falling back to a given default value if
+          # it is undefined or the configuration is not enabled.
+          checkNixXdg = def: cfg: if cfg.enable then cfg.settings.use-xdg-base-directories or def else def;
 
-    (mkIf (cfg.nixPath != [ ] && cfg.keepOldNixPath) {
-      home.sessionVariables.NIX_PATH = "${nixPath}\${NIX_PATH:+:$NIX_PATH}";
-    })
+          # Whether the OS configuration indicates that XDG directories should
+          # be used.
+          osUseXdg = checkNixXdg false osConfig.nix or { enable = false; };
 
-    (lib.mkIf (cfg.channels != { }) {
-      nix.nixPath = [ channelPath ];
-      home.file."${channelPath}".source = channelsDrv;
-    })
+          # Whether the user configuration indicates that XDG directories
+          # should be used, falling back to the OS configuration if not
+          # specified.
+          hmUseXdg = checkNixXdg osUseXdg cfg;
+        in
+        cfg.assumeXdg || hmUseXdg;
 
-    (mkIf (cfg.registry != { }) {
-      xdg.configFile."nix/registry.json".source = jsonFormat.generate "registry.json" {
-        version = cfg.registryVersion;
-        flakes = mapAttrsToList (n: v: { inherit (v) from to exact; }) cfg.registry;
-      };
-    })
-
-    (mkIf (cfg.settings != { } || cfg.extraOptions != "") {
       assertions = [
         {
-          assertion = cfg.package != null;
+          assertion = !(cfg.assumeXdg && cfg.enable && cfg.settings ? use-xdg-base-directories);
           message = ''
-            A corresponding Nix package must be specified via `nix.package` for generating
-            nix.conf.
+            `nix.assumeXdg` should not be set if `nix.settings.use-xdg-base-directories` is.
           '';
         }
       ];
+    }
+    (mkIf cfg.enable (mkMerge [
+      (mkIf (cfg.nixPath != [ ] && !cfg.keepOldNixPath) {
+        home.sessionVariables.NIX_PATH = "${nixPath}";
+      })
 
-      xdg.configFile."nix/nix.conf".source = nixConf;
-    })
-  ]);
+      (mkIf (cfg.nixPath != [ ] && cfg.keepOldNixPath) {
+        home.sessionVariables.NIX_PATH = "${nixPath}\${NIX_PATH:+:$NIX_PATH}";
+      })
+
+      (lib.mkIf (cfg.channels != { }) {
+        nix.nixPath = [ channelPath ];
+        home.file."${channelPath}".source = channelsDrv;
+      })
+
+      (mkIf (cfg.registry != { }) {
+        xdg.configFile."nix/registry.json".source = jsonFormat.generate "registry.json" {
+          version = cfg.registryVersion;
+          flakes = mapAttrsToList (n: v: { inherit (v) from to exact; }) cfg.registry;
+        };
+      })
+
+      (mkIf (cfg.settings != { } || cfg.extraOptions != "") {
+        assertions = [
+          {
+            assertion = cfg.package != null;
+            message = ''
+              A corresponding Nix package must be specified via `nix.package` for generating
+              nix.conf.
+            '';
+          }
+        ];
+
+        xdg.configFile."nix/nix.conf".source = nixConf;
+      })
+    ]))
+  ];
 }
diff --git a/modules/targets/generic-linux.nix b/modules/targets/generic-linux.nix
index 31529fc2..6ebf5d9c 100644
--- a/modules/targets/generic-linux.nix
+++ b/modules/targets/generic-linux.nix
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ in
       in
       {
         NIX_PATH =
-          if config.nix.enable && (config.nix.settings.use-xdg-base-directories or false) then
+          if config.nix.useXdg then
             "${config.xdg.stateHome}/nix/defexpr/channels\${NIX_PATH:+:}$NIX_PATH"
           else
             "$HOME/.nix-defexpr/channels\${NIX_PATH:+:}$NIX_PATH";
diff --git a/tests/modules/misc/nix/default.nix b/tests/modules/misc/nix/default.nix
index 4c8822bf..50a8b1e3 100644
--- a/tests/modules/misc/nix/default.nix
+++ b/tests/modules/misc/nix/default.nix
@@ -5,4 +5,5 @@
   nix-keep-old-nix-path = ./keep-old-nix-path.nix;
   nix-example-channels = ./example-channels.nix;
   nix-example-channels-xdg = ./example-channels-xdg.nix;
+  nix-use-xdg = ./use-xdg.nix;
 }
diff --git a/tests/modules/misc/nix/use-xdg.nix b/tests/modules/misc/nix/use-xdg.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f4d4b189
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/modules/misc/nix/use-xdg.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+{ lib, pkgs, ... }:
+let
+  nixosLib = import /${pkgs.path}/nixos/lib { inherit lib; };
+  getUseXdg =
+    osNix: userNix:
+    (nixosLib.evalTest {
+      hostPkgs = pkgs;
+      nodes.machine.imports = [
+        ../../../../nixos
+        {
+          nix = osNix;
+          home-manager.users.user = {
+            home.stateVersion = "26.05";
+            nix = userNix;
+          };
+        }
+      ];
+    }).config.nodes.machine.home-manager.users.user.nix.useXdg;
+in
+{
+  nmt.script =
+    # Defaults to false
+    assert !getUseXdg { } { };
+
+    # Test OS config
+    assert !getUseXdg { enable = true; } { };
+    assert
+      !getUseXdg {
+        enable = false;
+        settings.use-xdg-base-directories = true;
+      } { };
+    assert getUseXdg {
+      enable = true;
+      settings.use-xdg-base-directories = true;
+    } { };
+
+    # Test user config
+    assert !getUseXdg { } { enable = true; };
+    assert
+      !getUseXdg { } {
+        enable = false;
+        settings.use-xdg-base-directories = true;
+      };
+    assert getUseXdg { } {
+      enable = true;
+      settings.use-xdg-base-directories = true;
+    };
+
+    # Fallback to OS config if user config is unset
+    assert getUseXdg
+      {
+        enable = true;
+        settings.use-xdg-base-directories = true;
+      }
+      {
+        enable = true;
+      };
+
+    # But user config takes precedence
+    assert
+      !getUseXdg
+        {
+          enable = true;
+          settings.use-xdg-base-directories = true;
+        }
+        {
+          enable = true;
+          settings.use-xdg-base-directories = false;
+        };
+    assert getUseXdg
+      {
+        enable = true;
+        settings.use-xdg-base-directories = false;
+      }
+      {
+        enable = true;
+        settings.use-xdg-base-directories = true;
+      };
+
+    # assumeXdg also takes precedence
+    assert getUseXdg { } { assumeXdg = true; };
+    assert getUseXdg
+      {
+        enable = true;
+        settings.use-xdg-base-directories = false;
+      }
+      {
+        enable = false;
+        assumeXdg = true;
+      };
+    "";
+}
diff --git a/tests/modules/targets-linux/default.nix b/tests/modules/targets-linux/default.nix
index 24786f8d..5ae5fd0f 100644
--- a/tests/modules/targets-linux/default.nix
+++ b/tests/modules/targets-linux/default.nix
@@ -3,4 +3,5 @@
   targets-generic-linux-gpu-basic = ./generic-linux-gpu/basic-enable.nix;
   targets-generic-linux-gpu-setup-contents = ./generic-linux-gpu/setup-package-contents.nix;
   targets-generic-linux-gpu-nvidia = ./generic-linux-gpu/nvidia-enabled.nix;
+  targets-generic-linux-xdg = ./generic-linux-xdg.nix;
 }
diff --git a/tests/modules/targets-linux/generic-linux-xdg.nix b/tests/modules/targets-linux/generic-linux-xdg.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fa462b86
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/modules/targets-linux/generic-linux-xdg.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+{ lib, pkgs, ... }:
+let
+  expectedXdgDataDirs = lib.concatStringsSep ":" [
+    "\${NIX_STATE_DIR:-/nix/var/nix}/profiles/default/share"
+    "/home/hm-user/.local/state/nix/profile/share"
+    "/usr/share/ubuntu"
+    "/usr/local/share"
+    "/usr/share"
+    "/var/lib/snapd/desktop"
+    "/foo"
+  ];
+in
+{
+  config = {
+    targets.genericLinux.enable = true;
+
+    xdg.systemDirs.data = [ "/foo" ];
+
+    nix.assumeXdg = true;
+
+    nmt.script = ''
+      envFile=home-files/.config/environment.d/10-home-manager.conf
+      assertFileExists $envFile
+      assertFileContains $envFile \
+        'XDG_DATA_DIRS=${expectedXdgDataDirs}''${XDG_DATA_DIRS:+:$XDG_DATA_DIRS}'
+      assertFileContains $envFile \
+        'TERMINFO_DIRS=/home/hm-user/.local/state/nix/profile/share/terminfo:$TERMINFO_DIRS''${TERMINFO_DIRS:+:}/etc/terminfo:/lib/terminfo:/usr/share/terminfo'
+
+      sessionVarsFile=home-path/etc/profile.d/hm-session-vars.sh
+      assertFileExists $sessionVarsFile
+      assertFileContains $sessionVarsFile \
+        '. "${pkgs.nix}/etc/profile.d/nix.sh"'
+
+      assertFileContains \
+        home-path/etc/profile.d/hm-session-vars.sh \
+        'export TERM="$TERM"'
+    '';
+  };
+}