diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/misc/atuin.nix b/nixos/modules/services/misc/atuin.nix
index 2d6ffc510ce5..2c06f62c5a6e 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/misc/atuin.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/misc/atuin.nix
@@ -52,10 +52,13 @@ in
         };
 
         uri = mkOption {
-          type = types.str;
+          type = types.nullOr types.str;
           default = "postgresql:///atuin?host=/run/postgresql";
           example = "postgresql://atuin@localhost:5432/atuin";
-          description = mdDoc "URI to the database";
+          description = mdDoc ''
+            URI to the database.
+            Can be set to null in which case ATUIN_DB_URI should be set through an EnvironmentFile
+          '';
         };
       };
     };
@@ -132,9 +135,10 @@ in
         ATUIN_PORT = toString cfg.port;
         ATUIN_MAX_HISTORY_LENGTH = toString cfg.maxHistoryLength;
         ATUIN_OPEN_REGISTRATION = lib.boolToString cfg.openRegistration;
-        ATUIN_DB_URI = cfg.database.uri;
         ATUIN_PATH = cfg.path;
         ATUIN_CONFIG_DIR = "/run/atuin"; # required to start, but not used as configuration is via environment variables
+      } // lib.optionalAttrs (cfg.database.uri != null) {
+        ATUIN_DB_URI = cfg.database.uri;
       };
     };