diff --git a/nixos/modules/installer/tools/nixos-build-vms/build-vms.nix b/nixos/modules/installer/tools/nixos-build-vms/build-vms.nix
index 90f0702f7173..0c9f8522cc12 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/installer/tools/nixos-build-vms/build-vms.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/installer/tools/nixos-build-vms/build-vms.nix
@@ -3,7 +3,12 @@
 , networkExpr
 }:
 
-let nodes = import networkExpr; in
+let
+  nodes = builtins.mapAttrs (vm: module: {
+    _file = "${networkExpr}@node-${vm}";
+    imports = [ module ];
+  }) (import networkExpr);
+in
 
 with import ../../../../lib/testing-python.nix {
   inherit system;