diff --git a/default.nix b/default.nix
index c9918bb..97efe5e 100755
--- a/default.nix
+++ b/default.nix
@@ -26,8 +26,6 @@ in {
   system.configurationRevision = with inputs; mkIf (self ? rev) self.rev;
   hm.home.stateVersion = config.system.stateVersion;
 
-  boot.kernelPackages = mkDefault pkgs.linuxPackages_latest;
-
   # TODO: drop geoclue entirely. too lazy 2 to that now
   services.automatic-timezoned.enable = mkDefault true;
   time.timeZone = mkDefault null; # handled by automatic-timezoned
diff --git a/modules/core/kernel.nix b/modules/core/kernel.nix
index d9031b1..13e85ff 100644
--- a/modules/core/kernel.nix
+++ b/modules/core/kernel.nix
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ in {
   };
 
   config = mkMerge [
+    {
+      boot.kernelPackages = mkDefault pkgs.linuxPackages_latest;
+    }
     (mkIf cfg.zswap {
       boot.kernelParams = [
         "zswap.enabled=1"