diff --git a/nixos/modules/system/activation/activatable-system.nix b/nixos/modules/system/activation/activatable-system.nix
index bb207ec0c18f2..1593f54ca8146 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/system/activation/activatable-system.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/system/activation/activatable-system.nix
@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@ let
     ;
 
   systemBuilderArgs = {
+    passAsFile = [
+      "activationScript"
+      "dryActivationScript"
+    ];
     activationScript = config.system.activationScripts.script;
     dryActivationScript = config.system.dryActivationScript;
   };
@@ -54,8 +58,8 @@ in
   };
   config = {
     system.activatableSystemBuilderCommands = ''
-      echo "$activationScript" > $out/activate
-      echo "$dryActivationScript" > $out/dry-activate
+      mv "$activationScriptPath" $out/activate
+      mv "$dryActivationScriptPath" $out/dry-activate
       substituteInPlace $out/activate --subst-var-by out ''${!toplevelVar}
       substituteInPlace $out/dry-activate --subst-var-by out ''${!toplevelVar}
       chmod u+x $out/activate $out/dry-activate
diff --git a/nixos/modules/system/activation/top-level.nix b/nixos/modules/system/activation/top-level.nix
index 56e97d3fdea9d..8cab25d9d1e42 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/system/activation/top-level.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/system/activation/top-level.nix
@@ -64,7 +64,6 @@ let
       name = "nixos-system-${config.system.name}-${config.system.nixos.label}";
       preferLocalBuild = true;
       allowSubstitutes = false;
-      passAsFile = [ "extraDependencies" ];
       buildCommand = systemBuilder;
 
       systemd = config.systemd.package;
@@ -386,6 +385,11 @@ in
         # to the system closure, which defeats the purpose of the `system.checks`
         # option, as opposed to `system.extraDependencies`.
         passedChecks = concatStringsSep " " config.system.checks;
+
+        # Define `passAsFile` here, rather than in the body of `baseSystem`, so
+        # that it can be augmented with "activationScript" and
+        # "dryActivationScript" in `./activatable-system.nix`.
+        passAsFile = [ "extraDependencies" ];
       }
       // lib.optionalAttrs (config.system.forbiddenDependenciesRegexes != [ ]) {
         closureInfo = pkgs.closureInfo {