diff --git a/lib/modules.nix b/lib/modules.nix
index 4b02d6aee2f..99b9a8a31ea 100644
--- a/lib/modules.nix
+++ b/lib/modules.nix
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ rec {
         let collected = collectModules
           (specialArgs.modulesPath or "")
           (modules ++ [ internalModule ])
-          ({ inherit lib options config; } // specialArgs);
+          ({ inherit lib options config specialArgs; } // specialArgs);
         in mergeModules prefix (reverseList collected);
 
       options = merged.matchedOptions;
diff --git a/nixos/modules/system/activation/top-level.nix b/nixos/modules/system/activation/top-level.nix
index 9dbca4e33f3..6751ca3f2ee 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/system/activation/top-level.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/system/activation/top-level.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ config, lib, pkgs, modules, baseModules, ... }:
+{ config, lib, pkgs, modules, baseModules, specialArgs, ... }:
 
 with lib;
 
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ let
   # !!! fix this
   children = mapAttrs (childName: childConfig:
       (import ../../../lib/eval-config.nix {
-        inherit baseModules;
+        inherit baseModules specialArgs;
         system = config.nixpkgs.initialSystem;
         modules =
            (optionals childConfig.inheritParentConfig modules)