diff --git a/nixos/modules/system/boot/loader/grub/install-grub.pl b/nixos/modules/system/boot/loader/grub/install-grub.pl
index eef81d81484e..3128d1db0987 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/system/boot/loader/grub/install-grub.pl
+++ b/nixos/modules/system/boot/loader/grub/install-grub.pl
@@ -199,7 +199,10 @@ sub GrubFs {
     return Grub->new(path => $path, search => $search);
 }
 my $grubBoot = GrubFs("/boot");
-my $grubStore = GrubFs("/nix/store");
+my $grubStore;
+if ($copyKernels == 0) {
+    my $grubStore = GrubFs("/nix/store");
+}
 
 # Generate the header.
 my $conf .= "# Automatically generated.  DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE!\n";