diff --git a/nixos/modules/virtualisation/containers.nix b/nixos/modules/virtualisation/containers.nix
index dc29e45b8c8f..02de5801da25 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/virtualisation/containers.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/virtualisation/containers.nix
@@ -463,15 +463,10 @@ in
                 A specification of the desired configuration of this
                 container, as a NixOS module.
               '';
-              type = let
-                confPkgs = if config.pkgs == null then pkgs else config.pkgs;
-              in lib.mkOptionType {
+              type = lib.mkOptionType {
                 name = "Toplevel NixOS config";
-                merge = loc: defs: (import (confPkgs.path + "/nixos/lib/eval-config.nix") {
+                merge = loc: defs: (import ../../lib/eval-config.nix {
                   inherit system;
-                  pkgs = confPkgs;
-                  baseModules = import (confPkgs.path + "/nixos/modules/module-list.nix");
-                  inherit (confPkgs) lib;
                   modules =
                     let
                       extraConfig = {
@@ -520,15 +515,6 @@ in
               '';
             };
 
-            pkgs = mkOption {
-              type = types.nullOr types.attrs;
-              default = null;
-              example = literalExample "pkgs";
-              description = ''
-                Customise which nixpkgs to use for this container.
-              '';
-            };
-
             ephemeral = mkOption {
               type = types.bool;
               default = false;
diff --git a/nixos/tests/all-tests.nix b/nixos/tests/all-tests.nix
index b4a4f450ac4d..c16fbac05041 100644
--- a/nixos/tests/all-tests.nix
+++ b/nixos/tests/all-tests.nix
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ in
   codimd = handleTest ./codimd.nix {};
   consul = handleTest ./consul.nix {};
   containers-bridge = handleTest ./containers-bridge.nix {};
-  containers-custom-pkgs.nix = handleTest ./containers-custom-pkgs.nix {};
+  containers-nixpkgs-overlays.nix = handleTest ./containers-nixpkgs-overlays.nix {};
   containers-ephemeral = handleTest ./containers-ephemeral.nix {};
   containers-extra_veth = handleTest ./containers-extra_veth.nix {};
   containers-hosts = handleTest ./containers-hosts.nix {};
diff --git a/nixos/tests/containers-custom-pkgs.nix b/nixos/tests/containers-nixpkgs-overlays.nix
similarity index 69%
rename from nixos/tests/containers-custom-pkgs.nix
rename to nixos/tests/containers-nixpkgs-overlays.nix
index 397a4a905e6d..59c50f6ffb13 100644
--- a/nixos/tests/containers-custom-pkgs.nix
+++ b/nixos/tests/containers-nixpkgs-overlays.nix
@@ -1,12 +1,10 @@
-# Test for NixOS' container support.
+# Test for nixpkgs overlays inside NixOS containers.
 
 import ./make-test-python.nix ({ pkgs, lib, ...} : let
 
-  customPkgs = pkgs // {
-    hello = pkgs.hello.overrideAttrs(old: {
-      name = "custom-hello";
-    });
-  };
+  customHello = pkgs.hello.overrideAttrs(old: {
+    name = "custom-hello";
+  });
 
 in {
   name = "containers-hosts";
@@ -22,8 +20,11 @@ in {
 
       containers.simple = {
         autoStart = true;
-        pkgs = customPkgs;
         config = {pkgs, config, ... }: {
+          nixpkgs.overlays = [(self: super: {
+            hello = customHello;
+          })];
+
           environment.systemPackages = [
             pkgs.hello
           ];
@@ -36,7 +37,7 @@ in {
     start_all()
     machine.wait_for_unit("default.target")
     machine.succeed(
-        "test $(nixos-container run simple -- readlink -f /run/current-system/sw/bin/hello) = ${customPkgs.hello}/bin/hello"
+        "test $(nixos-container run simple -- readlink -f /run/current-system/sw/bin/hello) = ${customHello}/bin/hello"
     )
   '';
 })