diff --git a/nixos/lib/testing/nodes.nix b/nixos/lib/testing/nodes.nix
index 73e6d386fd1d..7941d69e38d2 100644
--- a/nixos/lib/testing/nodes.nix
+++ b/nixos/lib/testing/nodes.nix
@@ -14,6 +14,25 @@ let
     types
     ;
 
+  inherit (hostPkgs) hostPlatform;
+
+  guestSystem =
+    if hostPlatform.isLinux
+    then hostPlatform.system
+    else
+      let
+        hostToGuest = {
+          "x86_64-darwin" = "x86_64-linux";
+          "aarch64-darwin" = "aarch64-linux";
+        };
+
+        supportedHosts = lib.concatStringsSep ", " (lib.attrNames hostToGuest);
+
+        message =
+          "NixOS Test: don't know which VM guest system to pair with VM host system: ${hostPlatform.system}. Perhaps you intended to run the tests on a Linux host, or one of the following systems that may run NixOS tests: ${supportedHosts}";
+      in
+        hostToGuest.${hostPlatform.system} or (throw message);
+
   baseOS =
     import ../eval-config.nix {
       inherit lib;
@@ -27,13 +46,14 @@ let
           ({ config, ... }:
             {
               virtualisation.qemu.package = testModuleArgs.config.qemu.package;
+              virtualisation.host.pkgs = hostPkgs;
             })
           ({ options, ... }: {
             key = "nodes.nix-pkgs";
             config = optionalAttrs (!config.node.pkgsReadOnly) (
               mkIf (!options.nixpkgs.pkgs.isDefined) {
                 # TODO: switch to nixpkgs.hostPlatform and make sure containers-imperative test still evaluates.
-                nixpkgs.system = hostPkgs.stdenv.hostPlatform.system;
+                nixpkgs.system = guestSystem;
               }
             );
           })
diff --git a/nixos/lib/testing/pkgs.nix b/nixos/lib/testing/pkgs.nix
index 22dd586868e3..46d82c65d26a 100644
--- a/nixos/lib/testing/pkgs.nix
+++ b/nixos/lib/testing/pkgs.nix
@@ -2,7 +2,11 @@
 {
   config = {
     # default pkgs for use in VMs
-    _module.args.pkgs = hostPkgs;
+    _module.args.pkgs =
+      # TODO: deprecate it everywhere; not just on darwin. Throw on darwin?
+      lib.warnIf hostPkgs.stdenv.hostPlatform.isDarwin
+        "Do not use the `pkgs` module argument in tests you want to run on darwin. It is ambiguous, and many tests are broken because of it. If you need to use a package on the VM host, use `hostPkgs`. Otherwise, use `config.node.pkgs`, or `config.nodes.<name>.nixpkgs.pkgs`."
+        hostPkgs;
 
     defaults = {
       # TODO: a module to set a shared pkgs, if options.nixpkgs.* is untouched by user (highestPrio) */
diff --git a/nixos/lib/testing/run.nix b/nixos/lib/testing/run.nix
index 9440c1acdfd8..de5a9b97e61d 100644
--- a/nixos/lib/testing/run.nix
+++ b/nixos/lib/testing/run.nix
@@ -41,7 +41,9 @@ in
     rawTestDerivation = hostPkgs.stdenv.mkDerivation {
       name = "vm-test-run-${config.name}";
 
-      requiredSystemFeatures = [ "kvm" "nixos-test" ];
+      requiredSystemFeatures = [ "nixos-test" ]
+        ++ lib.optionals hostPkgs.stdenv.hostPlatform.isLinux [ "kvm" ]
+        ++ lib.optionals hostPkgs.stdenv.hostPlatform.isDarwin [ "apple-virt" ];
 
       buildCommand = ''
         mkdir -p $out
diff --git a/nixos/tests/acme.nix b/nixos/tests/acme.nix
index 272782dc2f62..d63a77fcdd23 100644
--- a/nixos/tests/acme.nix
+++ b/nixos/tests/acme.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
-{ pkgs, lib, ... }: let
+{ config, lib, ... }: let
+
+  pkgs = config.node.pkgs;
+
   commonConfig = ./common/acme/client;
 
   dnsServerIP = nodes: nodes.dnsserver.networking.primaryIPAddress;
diff --git a/nixos/tests/all-tests.nix b/nixos/tests/all-tests.nix
index 9795023bcea9..7376cd40b910 100644
--- a/nixos/tests/all-tests.nix
+++ b/nixos/tests/all-tests.nix
@@ -78,8 +78,9 @@ let
     #       it with `allowAliases = false`?
     # warnIf pkgs.config.allowAliases "nixosTests: pkgs includes aliases."
     {
+      _file = "${__curPos.file} readOnlyPkgs";
       _class = "nixosTest";
-      node.pkgs = pkgs;
+      node.pkgs = pkgs.pkgsLinux;
     };
 
 in {
diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/testers/default.nix b/pkgs/build-support/testers/default.nix
index fc10597e3e12..362622d9b7ee 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/testers/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/testers/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ pkgs, buildPackages, lib, callPackage, runCommand, stdenv, substituteAll, testers }:
+{ pkgs, pkgsLinux, buildPackages, lib, callPackage, runCommand, stdenv, substituteAll, testers }:
 # Documentation is in doc/builders/testers.chapter.md
 {
   # See https://nixos.org/manual/nixpkgs/unstable/#tester-testBuildFailure
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@
             (lib.setDefaultModuleLocation "the argument that was passed to pkgs.runNixOSTest" testModule)
           ];
           hostPkgs = pkgs;
-          node.pkgs = pkgs;
+          node.pkgs = pkgsLinux;
         };
 
   # See doc/builders/testers.chapter.md or
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@
           inherit pkgs;
           extraConfigurations = [(
             { lib, ... }: {
-              config.nixpkgs.pkgs = lib.mkDefault pkgs;
+              config.nixpkgs.pkgs = lib.mkDefault pkgsLinux;
             }
           )];
         });
diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/testers/test/default.nix b/pkgs/build-support/testers/test/default.nix
index c48c9f299ebf..da67711156be 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/testers/test/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/testers/test/default.nix
@@ -27,11 +27,11 @@ lib.recurseIntoAttrs {
 
   # Check that the wiring of nixosTest is correct.
   # Correct operation of the NixOS test driver should be asserted elsewhere.
-  nixosTest-example = pkgs-with-overlay.testers.nixosTest ({ lib, pkgs, figlet, ... }: {
+  nixosTest-example = pkgs-with-overlay.testers.nixosTest ({ lib, ... }: {
     name = "nixosTest-test";
     nodes.machine = { pkgs, ... }: {
       system.nixos = dummyVersioning;
-      environment.systemPackages = [ pkgs.proof-of-overlay-hello figlet ];
+      environment.systemPackages = [ pkgs.proof-of-overlay-hello pkgs.figlet ];
     };
     testScript = ''
       machine.succeed("hello | figlet >/dev/console")
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/release-attrpaths-superset.nix b/pkgs/top-level/release-attrpaths-superset.nix
index 55cce6101d71..cd48453fa0ee 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/release-attrpaths-superset.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/release-attrpaths-superset.nix
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ let
     pkgsStatic = true;
     pkgsCross = true;
     pkgsi686Linux = true;
+    pkgsLinux = true;
     pkgsExtraHardening = true;
   };
 
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/stage.nix b/pkgs/top-level/stage.nix
index cbf0f585fe41..1fc551c0b453 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/stage.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/stage.nix
@@ -243,6 +243,16 @@ let
       };
     } else throw "x86_64 Darwin package set can only be used on Darwin systems.";
 
+    # If already linux: the same package set unaltered
+    # Otherwise, return a natively built linux package set for the current cpu architecture string.
+    # (ABI and other details will be set to the default for the cpu/os pair)
+    pkgsLinux =
+      if stdenv.hostPlatform.isLinux
+      then self
+      else nixpkgsFun {
+        localSystem = lib.systems.elaborate "${stdenv.hostPlatform.parsed.cpu.name}-linux";
+      };
+
     # Extend the package set with zero or more overlays. This preserves
     # preexisting overlays. Prefer to initialize with the right overlays
     # in one go when calling Nixpkgs, for performance and simplicity.