diff --git a/pkgs/modules/module-list.nix b/pkgs/modules/module-list.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..7f5061e6aedea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/modules/module-list.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+[
+  ./overrides.nix
+]
diff --git a/pkgs/modules/overrides.nix b/pkgs/modules/overrides.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..7dbb085badedd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/modules/overrides.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+{ config, lib, pkgs, ... }:
+
+with lib;
+
+let
+  isConfig = x:
+    builtins.isAttrs x || builtins.isFunction x;
+  configType = mkOptionType {
+    name = "nixpkgs config";
+    check = traceValIfNot isConfig;
+  };
+in
+
+{
+  options = {
+    packageOverrides = mkOption {
+        type = configType;
+        description = "Package overrides";
+    };
+  };
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/default.nix b/pkgs/top-level/default.nix
index cff8671b65d57..66887af1f0906 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/default.nix
@@ -35,9 +35,6 @@ let
 
   lib = import ../../lib;
 
-  # The contents of the configuration file found at $NIXPKGS_CONFIG or
-  # $HOME/.nixpkgs/config.nix.
-  # for NIXOS (nixos-rebuild): use nixpkgs.config option
   config =
     let
       inherit (builtins) getEnv pathExists;
@@ -46,19 +43,16 @@ let
       homeDir = getEnv "HOME";
       configFile2 = homeDir + "/.nixpkgs/config.nix";
 
-      configExpr =
+      rootModule =
         if config_ != null then config_
-        else if configFile != "" && pathExists configFile then import configFile
-        else if homeDir != "" && pathExists configFile2 then import configFile2
-        else {};
+        else if configFile != "" && pathExists configFile then [ configFile ]
+        else if homeDir != "" && pathExists configFile2 then [ configFile2 ]
+        else [];
 
     in
-      # allow both:
-      # { /* the config */ } and
-      # { pkgs, ... } : { /* the config */ }
-      if builtins.isFunction configExpr
-        then configExpr { inherit pkgs; }
-        else configExpr;
+    (lib.evalModules {
+      modules = rootModule ++ import ../modules/module-list.nix;
+    }).config;
 
   # Allow setting the platform in the config file. Otherwise, let's use a reasonable default (pc)