diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/libproxy/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/libproxy/default.nix
index 62ddcd673900c..e08364208d467 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/libproxy/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/libproxy/default.nix
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 , cmake
 , zlib
 , dbus
-, networkmanager
+, libnm
 , enableJavaScript ? stdenv.isDarwin || lib.meta.availableOn stdenv.hostPlatform duktape
 , duktape
 , pcre
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   ] else [
     glib
     dbus
-    networkmanager
+    libnm
   ]);
 
   cmakeFlags = [
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/networking/networkmanager/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/networking/networkmanager/default.nix
index a5cdc383f9ad4..b360ba75f7955 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/networking/networkmanager/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/networking/networkmanager/default.nix
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@
 , mobile-broadband-provider-info
 , runtimeShell
 , buildPackages
+, libnmOnly ? false
 }:
 
 let
@@ -91,8 +92,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     "-Dpppd=${ppp}/bin/pppd"
     "-Diptables=${iptables}/bin/iptables"
     "-Dnft=${nftables}/bin/nft"
-    "-Dmodem_manager=true"
-    "-Dnmtui=true"
+    (lib.mesonBool "modem_manager" (!libnmOnly))
+    (lib.mesonBool "nmtui" (!libnmOnly))
     "-Ddnsmasq=${dnsmasq}/bin/dnsmasq"
     "-Dqt=false"
 
@@ -145,15 +146,18 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     ppp
     libndp
     curl
-    mobile-broadband-provider-info
+    jansson
+    dbus # used to get directory paths with pkg-config during configuration
+  ] ++ lib.optionals (!libnmOnly) [
+    # for nmtui
+    newt
+    readline
+    # for plugins
     bluez5
     dnsmasq
-    modemmanager
-    readline
-    newt
     libsoup
-    jansson
-    dbus # used to get directory paths with pkg-config during configuration
+    mobile-broadband-provider-info
+    modemmanager
   ];
 
   propagatedBuildInputs = [ gnutls libgcrypt ];
@@ -199,6 +203,12 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     ln -s $PWD/src/libnm-client-impl/libnm.so.0 ${placeholder "out"}/lib/libnm.so.0
   '';
 
+  # upstream does not offer a way to only compile libnm and we cannot just move libnm to a different output
+  # without regenerating the git files
+  postInstall = lib.optionalString libnmOnly ''
+    rm -rf $out/{,s}bin/
+  '';
+
   postFixup = lib.optionalString (stdenv.buildPlatform != stdenv.hostPlatform) ''
     cp -r ${buildPackages.networkmanager.devdoc} $devdoc
     cp -r ${buildPackages.networkmanager.man} $man
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 8ffc72e80cb2f..3cfd28baf1208 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -10687,6 +10687,8 @@ with pkgs;
 
   networkmanager = callPackage ../tools/networking/networkmanager { };
 
+  libnm = networkmanager.override { libnmOnly = true; };
+
   networkmanager-iodine = callPackage ../tools/networking/networkmanager/iodine { };
 
   networkmanager-openvpn = callPackage ../tools/networking/networkmanager/openvpn { };