diff --git a/panel/default.nix b/panel/default.nix
index b2aa2480..a2ce856c 100644
--- a/panel/default.nix
+++ b/panel/default.nix
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ in
     ];
     env = {
       NPINS_DIRECTORY = toString ../npins;
+      # explicitly use nix, as e.g. lix does not have configurable-impure-env
+      NIX_DIR = pkgs.nix;
     };
     shellHook = ''
       # in production, secrets are passed via CREDENTIALS_DIRECTORY by systemd.
@@ -30,8 +32,6 @@ in
       export CREDENTIALS_DIRECTORY=${builtins.toString ./.credentials}
       export DATABASE_URL="sqlite:///${toString ./src}/db.sqlite3"
     '';
-    # explicitly use nix, as e.g. lix does not have configurable-impure-env
-    NIX_DIR = pkgs.nix;
   };
 
   module = import ./nix/configuration.nix;