diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/x11/display-managers/startx.nix b/nixos/modules/services/x11/display-managers/startx.nix
index 2cf0657f5e0e..b388224398fd 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/x11/display-managers/startx.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/x11/display-managers/startx.nix
@@ -5,12 +5,16 @@
   ...
 }:
 
-with lib;
-
 let
 
   cfg = config.services.xserver.displayManager.startx;
 
+  # WM session script
+  # Note: this assumes a single WM has been enabled
+  sessionScript = lib.concatMapStringsSep "\n" (
+    i: i.start
+  ) config.services.xserver.windowManager.session;
+
 in
 
 {
@@ -19,40 +23,93 @@ in
 
   options = {
     services.xserver.displayManager.startx = {
-      enable = mkOption {
-        type = types.bool;
+      enable = lib.mkOption {
+        type = lib.types.bool;
         default = false;
         description = ''
-          Whether to enable the dummy "startx" pseudo-display manager,
-          which allows users to start X manually via the "startx" command
-          from a vt shell. The X server runs under the user's id, not as root.
-          The user must provide a ~/.xinitrc file containing session startup
-          commands, see {manpage}`startx(1)`. This is not automatically generated
-          from the desktopManager and windowManager settings.
+          Whether to enable the dummy "startx" pseudo-display manager, which
+          allows users to start X manually via the `startx` command from a
+          virtual terminal.
+
+          ::: {.note}
+          The X server will run under the current user, not as root.
+          :::
         '';
       };
+
+      generateScript = lib.mkOption {
+        type = lib.types.bool;
+        default = false;
+        description = ''
+          Whether to generate the system-wide xinitrc script (/etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc).
+          This script will take care of setting up the session for systemd user
+          services, running the window manager and cleaning up on exit.
+
+          ::: {.note}
+          This script will only be used by `startx` when both `.xinitrc` does not
+          exists and the `XINITRC` environment variable is unset.
+          :::
+        '';
+      };
+
+      extraCommands = lib.mkOption {
+        type = lib.types.lines;
+        default = "";
+        description = ''
+          Shell commands to be added to the system-wide xinitrc script.
+        '';
+      };
+
     };
   };
 
   ###### implementation
 
-  config = mkIf cfg.enable {
-    services.xserver = {
-      exportConfiguration = true;
-    };
+  config = lib.mkIf cfg.enable {
+    services.xserver.exportConfiguration = true;
 
     # Other displayManagers log to /dev/null because they're services and put
     # Xorg's stdout in the journal
     #
     # To send log to Xorg's default log location ($XDG_DATA_HOME/xorg/), we do
     # not specify a log file when running X
-    services.xserver.logFile = mkDefault null;
+    services.xserver.logFile = lib.mkDefault null;
 
     # Implement xserverArgs via xinit's system-wide xserverrc
     environment.etc."X11/xinit/xserverrc".source = pkgs.writeShellScript "xserverrc" ''
-      exec ${pkgs.xorg.xorgserver}/bin/X ${toString config.services.xserver.displayManager.xserverArgs} "$@"
+      exec ${pkgs.xorg.xorgserver}/bin/X \
+        ${toString config.services.xserver.displayManager.xserverArgs} "$@"
     '';
+
+    # Add a sane system-wide xinitrc script
+    environment.etc."X11/xinit/xinitrc".source = lib.mkIf cfg.generateScript (
+      pkgs.writeShellScript "xinitrc" ''
+        ${cfg.extraCommands}
+
+        # start user services
+        systemctl --user import-environment DISPLAY XDG_SESSION_ID
+        systemctl --user start nixos-fake-graphical-session.target
+
+        # run the window manager script
+        ${sessionScript}
+        wait $waitPID
+
+        # stop services and all subprocesses
+        systemctl --user stop nixos-fake-graphical-session.target
+        kill 0
+      ''
+    );
+
     environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [ xorg.xinit ];
+
+    # Make graphical-session fail if the user environment has not been imported
+    systemd.user.targets.graphical-session = {
+      unitConfig.AssertEnvironment = [
+        "DISPLAY"
+        "XDG_SESSION_ID"
+      ];
+    };
+
   };
 
 }