diff --git a/doc/release-notes/rl-2511.section.md b/doc/release-notes/rl-2511.section.md
index 28d6a1b0d16b..08282a31cb1f 100644
--- a/doc/release-notes/rl-2511.section.md
+++ b/doc/release-notes/rl-2511.section.md
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 - `base16-builder` node package has been removed due to lack of upstream maintenance.
 - `gentium` package now provides `Gentium-*.ttf` files, and not `GentiumPlus-*.ttf` files like before. The font identifiers `Gentium Plus*` are available in the `gentium-plus` package, and if you want to use the more recently updated package `gentium` [by sil](https://software.sil.org/gentium/), you should update your configuration files to use the `Gentium` font identifier.
 
-- `lima` package no longer includes guest agents except for the host's architecture; these are now in `lima-additional-guestagents` package. If your guest VM's architecture differs from your Lima host's, you should also install `lima-additional-guestagents`. See also [upstream issue](https://github.com/lima-vm/lima/issues/3563).
+- `lima` package now only includes the guest agent for the host's architecture by default. If your guest VM's architecture differs from your Lima host's, you'll need to enable the `lima-additional-guestagents` package by setting `withAdditionalGuestAgents = true` when overriding lima with this input.
 
 ## Other Notable Changes {#sec-nixpkgs-release-25.11-notable-changes}
 
diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/li/lima-additional-guestagents/package.nix b/pkgs/by-name/li/lima-additional-guestagents/package.nix
index c849b68317e5..08d1c3987c27 100644
--- a/pkgs/by-name/li/lima-additional-guestagents/package.nix
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/li/lima-additional-guestagents/package.nix
@@ -63,14 +63,24 @@ buildGoModule (finalAttrs: {
     runHook postInstallCheck
   '';
 
-  passthru.updateScript = nix-update-script { };
+  passthru = {
+    updateScript = nix-update-script { };
+  };
 
   meta = {
     homepage = "https://github.com/lima-vm/lima";
     description = "Lima Guest Agents for emulating non-native architectures";
     longDescription = ''
-      Use this package only for a guest with a different architecture than the host.
-      This package requires "lima" to be available.
+      This package should only be used when your guest's architecture differs from the host's.
+
+      To enable its functionality in `limactl`, set `withAdditionalGuestAgents = true` in the `lima` package:
+      ```nix
+      pkgs.lima.override {
+        withAdditionalGuestAgents = true;
+      }
+      ```
+
+      Typically, you won't need to directly add this package to your *.nix files.
     '';
     changelog = "https://github.com/lima-vm/lima/releases/tag/v${finalAttrs.version}";
     license = lib.licenses.asl20;
diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/li/lima/package.nix b/pkgs/by-name/li/lima/package.nix
index 804edcd56d45..ebc4c1b5030b 100644
--- a/pkgs/by-name/li/lima/package.nix
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/li/lima/package.nix
@@ -9,9 +9,14 @@
   makeWrapper,
   nix-update-script,
   apple-sdk_15,
+  withAdditionalGuestAgents ? false,
+  lima-additional-guestagents,
   writableTmpDirAsHomeHook,
-  findutils,
-  gzip,
+  testers,
+  writeText,
+  runCommand,
+  lima,
+  jq,
 }:
 
 buildGoModule (finalAttrs: {
@@ -82,43 +87,83 @@ buildGoModule (finalAttrs: {
       runHook postInstall
     '';
 
+  postInstall = lib.optionalString withAdditionalGuestAgents ''
+    cp -rs '${lima-additional-guestagents}/share/lima/.' "$out/share/lima/"
+  '';
+
   nativeInstallCheckInputs = [
     # Workaround for: "panic: $HOME is not defined" at https://github.com/lima-vm/lima/blob/cb99e9f8d01ebb82d000c7912fcadcd87ec13ad5/pkg/limayaml/defaults.go#L53
     writableTmpDirAsHomeHook
-
-    findutils
-    gzip
   ];
   doInstallCheck = true;
 
   # Don't use versionCheckHook for this package until Env solutions like #403971 or #411609 are available on the master branch.
-  installCheckPhase =
-    ''
-      runHook preInstallCheck
+  installCheckPhase = ''
+    runHook preInstallCheck
 
-      [[ "$("$out/bin/limactl" --version | cut -d ' ' -f 3)" == "${finalAttrs.version}" ]]
-      USER=nix $out/bin/limactl validate templates/default.yaml
-      [[ "$(find "$out/share" -type f -name 'lima-guestagent.Linux-*.gz' | wc -l)" -eq 1 ]]
-    ''
-    # This agent matches the host's architecture and is for Linux VMs, so it can only be tested on Linux.
-    + lib.optionalString stdenv.hostPlatform.isLinux ''
-      cp $out/share/lima/lima-guestagent.*.gz ./
-      gzip -dc lima-guestagent.*.gz > lima-guestagent
-      chmod +x lima-guestagent
-      [[ "$(./lima-guestagent --version | cut -d ' ' -f 3)" == "${finalAttrs.version}" ]]
-    ''
-    + ''
-      runHook postInstallCheck
-    '';
+    [[ "$("$out/bin/limactl" --version | cut -d ' ' -f 3)" == "${finalAttrs.version}" ]]
+    USER=nix $out/bin/limactl validate templates/default.yaml
 
-  passthru.updateScript = nix-update-script { };
+    runHook postInstallCheck
+  '';
+
+  passthru = {
+    tests =
+      let
+        arch = stdenv.hostPlatform.parsed.cpu.name;
+      in
+      {
+        minimalAgent = testers.testEqualContents {
+          assertion = "limactl only detects host's architecture guest agent by default";
+          expected = writeText "expected" ''
+            true
+            1
+          '';
+          actual =
+            runCommand "actual"
+              {
+                nativeBuildInputs = [
+                  writableTmpDirAsHomeHook
+                  lima
+                  jq
+                ];
+              }
+              ''
+                limactl info | jq '.guestAgents | has("${arch}")' >>"$out"
+                limactl info | jq '.guestAgents | length' >>"$out"
+              '';
+        };
+
+        additionalAgents = testers.testEqualContents {
+          assertion = "limactl also detects additional guest agents if specified";
+          expected = writeText "expected" ''
+            true
+            true
+          '';
+          actual =
+            runCommand "actual"
+              {
+                nativeBuildInputs = [
+                  writableTmpDirAsHomeHook
+                  (lima.override {
+                    withAdditionalGuestAgents = true;
+                  })
+                  jq
+                ];
+              }
+              ''
+                limactl info | jq '.guestAgents | has("${arch}")' >>"$out"
+                limactl info | jq '.guestAgents | length >= 2' >>"$out"
+              '';
+        };
+      };
+
+    updateScript = nix-update-script { };
+  };
 
   meta = {
     homepage = "https://github.com/lima-vm/lima";
     description = "Linux virtual machines with automatic file sharing and port forwarding";
-    longDescription = ''
-      Guest agents for non-native architectures are in the "lima-additional-guestagents" package.
-    '';
     changelog = "https://github.com/lima-vm/lima/releases/tag/v${finalAttrs.version}";
     license = lib.licenses.asl20;
     maintainers = with lib.maintainers; [