diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/networking/nebula.nix b/nixos/modules/services/networking/nebula.nix
index 7ef930fff68f..6f7d69cb6f99 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/networking/nebula.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/networking/nebula.nix
@@ -292,7 +292,7 @@ in
     assertions = lib.mapAttrsToList (netName: netCfg: {
       # IFNAMSIZ caps network device names to 16 chars (including NULL terminator).
       # Without this check, users might end up with a truncated interface name.
-      assertion = !netCfg.tun.disable && builtins.stringLength netCfg.tun.device <= 15;
+      assertion = netCfg.tun.disable || builtins.stringLength netCfg.tun.device <= 15;
       message = ''
         Network device names can't be longer than 15 chars.
         `config.services.nebula.networks.${netName}.tun.device` is set to "${netCfg.tun.device}" which is above the limit.
diff --git a/nixos/tests/all-tests.nix b/nixos/tests/all-tests.nix
index 58950fafd903..8109ee869fa8 100644
--- a/nixos/tests/all-tests.nix
+++ b/nixos/tests/all-tests.nix
@@ -1241,6 +1241,7 @@ in
   nebula-lighthouse-service = runTest ./nebula-lighthouse-service.nix;
   nebula.connectivity = runTest ./nebula/connectivity.nix;
   nebula.reload = runTest ./nebula/reload.nix;
+  nebula.tunless = runTest ./nebula/tunless.nix;
   neo4j = runTest ./neo4j.nix;
   netbird = runTest ./netbird.nix;
   netbird-relay = runTest ./netbird-relay.nix;
diff --git a/nixos/tests/nebula/tunless.nix b/nixos/tests/nebula/tunless.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..dac1607e27e8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nixos/tests/nebula/tunless.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+{ ... }:
+{
+  name = "nebula";
+
+  nodes = {
+    lighthouse =
+      { pkgs, ... }:
+      {
+        environment.systemPackages = [ pkgs.nebula ];
+
+        services.nebula.networks.smoke = {
+          # Note that these paths won't exist when the machine is first booted.
+          ca = "/etc/nebula/ca.crt";
+          cert = "/etc/nebula/lighthouse.crt";
+          key = "/etc/nebula/lighthouse.key";
+          isLighthouse = true;
+          listen = {
+            host = "0.0.0.0";
+            port = 4242;
+          };
+          # A lighthouse can run without a tun interface. The device name is
+          # unused then, so the length assertion must not apply to it.
+          tun.disable = true;
+        };
+      };
+  };
+
+  testScript = ''
+    # Create the certificate and sign the lighthouse's keys.
+    lighthouse.succeed(
+        "mkdir -p /etc/nebula",
+        'nebula-cert ca -duration $((10*365*24*60))m -name "Smoke Test" -out-crt /etc/nebula/ca.crt -out-key /etc/nebula/ca.key',
+        'nebula-cert sign -duration $((365*24*60))m -ca-crt /etc/nebula/ca.crt -ca-key /etc/nebula/ca.key -name "lighthouse" -groups "lighthouse" -networks "10.0.100.1/24" -out-crt /etc/nebula/lighthouse.crt -out-key /etc/nebula/lighthouse.key',
+        'chown -R nebula-smoke:nebula-smoke /etc/nebula'
+    )
+
+    # Restart nebula to pick up the keys and verify it listens without creating a tun device.
+    lighthouse.systemctl("restart nebula@smoke.service")
+    lighthouse.wait_for_unit("nebula@smoke.service")
+    lighthouse.wait_until_succeeds("ss -lun | grep -q ':4242'", timeout=10)
+    lighthouse.fail("ip link show nebula.smoke")
+  '';
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/ne/nebula/package.nix b/pkgs/by-name/ne/nebula/package.nix
index 024c280c7a72..1da168e521e4 100644
--- a/pkgs/by-name/ne/nebula/package.nix
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/ne/nebula/package.nix
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ buildGoModule (finalAttrs: {
     inherit (nixosTests.nebula)
       connectivity
       reload
+      tunless
       ;
   };