diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/development/importing-modules.section.md b/nixos/doc/manual/development/importing-modules.section.md
index 65d78959b8e0..32556b9bf192 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/development/importing-modules.section.md
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/development/importing-modules.section.md
@@ -16,31 +16,3 @@ outside of Nixpkgs. These modules can be imported:
   services.exampleModule.enable = true;
 }
 ```
-
-The environment variable `NIXOS_EXTRA_MODULE_PATH` is an absolute path
-to a NixOS module that is included alongside the Nixpkgs NixOS modules.
-Like any NixOS module, this module can import additional modules:
-
-```nix
-# ./module-list/default.nix
-[
-  ./example-module1
-  ./example-module2
-]
-```
-
-```nix
-# ./extra-module/default.nix
-{ imports = import ./module-list.nix; }
-```
-
-```nix
-# NIXOS_EXTRA_MODULE_PATH=/absolute/path/to/extra-module
-{ config, lib, pkgs, ... }:
-
-{
-  # No `imports` needed
-
-  services.exampleModule1.enable = true;
-}
-```
diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/development/meta-attributes.section.md b/nixos/doc/manual/development/meta-attributes.section.md
index b2ad23e58b94..fc0f7ae268de 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/development/meta-attributes.section.md
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/development/meta-attributes.section.md
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ file.
 -  `buildDocsInSandbox` indicates whether the option documentation for the
    module can be built in a derivation sandbox. This option is currently only
    honored for modules shipped by nixpkgs. User modules and modules taken from
-   `NIXOS_EXTRA_MODULE_PATH` are always built outside of the sandbox, as has
+   `extraModules` are always built outside of the sandbox, as has
    been the case in previous releases.
 
    Building NixOS option documentation in a sandbox allows caching of the built
diff --git a/nixos/lib/eval-config.nix b/nixos/lib/eval-config.nix
index 8bab3752073f..66ad9dba700a 100644
--- a/nixos/lib/eval-config.nix
+++ b/nixos/lib/eval-config.nix
@@ -30,8 +30,29 @@ evalConfigArgs@
   check ? true
 , prefix ? []
 , lib ? import ../../lib
-, extraModules ? let e = builtins.getEnv "NIXOS_EXTRA_MODULE_PATH";
-                 in lib.optional (e != "") (import e)
+, extraModules ?
+    let e = builtins.getEnv "NIXOS_EXTRA_MODULE_PATH";
+    in lib.optional (e != "") (
+      lib.warn
+        ''
+          The NIXOS_EXTRA_MODULE_PATH environment variable is deprecated and will be
+          removed in NixOS 25.05.
+          We recommend a workflow where you update the expression files instead, but
+          if you wish to continue to use this variable, you may do so with a module like:
+
+          {
+            imports = [
+              (builtins.getEnv "NIXOS_EXTRA_MODULE_PATH")
+            ];
+          }
+
+          This has the benefit that your configuration hints at the
+          non-standard workflow.
+        ''
+        # NOTE: this import call is unnecessary and it even removes the file name
+        #       from error messages.
+        import e
+    )
 }:
 
 let