diff --git a/nixos/tests/user-activation-scripts.nix b/nixos/tests/user-activation-scripts.nix
index ebd96b019e92..2e1840a8460f 100644
--- a/nixos/tests/user-activation-scripts.nix
+++ b/nixos/tests/user-activation-scripts.nix
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import ./make-test-python.nix ({ lib, ... }: {
   meta = with lib.maintainers; { maintainers = [ chkno ]; };
 
   nodes.machine = {
+    system.switch.enable = true;
     system.userActivationScripts.foo = "mktemp ~/user-activation-ran.XXXXXX";
     users.users.alice = {
       initialPassword = "pass1";