diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/x11/display-managers/gdm.nix b/nixos/modules/services/x11/display-managers/gdm.nix
index 4830ec0030b..f2be3bc3253 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/x11/display-managers/gdm.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/x11/display-managers/gdm.nix
@@ -216,6 +216,8 @@ in
       ${optionalString (!cfg.gdm.nvidiaWayland) ''
         DRIVER=="nvidia", RUN+="${gdm}/libexec/gdm-disable-wayland"
       ''}
+      # disable Wayland when modesetting is disabled
+      IMPORT{cmdline}="nomodeset", RUN+="${gdm}/libexec/gdm-disable-wayland"
     '';
 
     systemd.user.services.dbus.wantedBy = [ "default.target" ];