diff --git a/modules/programs/editors/default.nix b/modules/programs/editors/default.nix
index 6fc43b8..7df7226 100644
--- a/modules/programs/editors/default.nix
+++ b/modules/programs/editors/default.nix
@@ -12,6 +12,13 @@ in {
   ];
 
   config = mkIf config.local.profiles.desktop.enable {
+    /*
+    we don't want the default NixOS EDITOR value, which is nano and will override the `environment.d` setting.
+     we have to unset it like this so that our systemd user variable will take precedence:
+    */
+    environment.extraInit = ''
+      unset -v EDITOR
+    '';
     hjem.users.${username} = {
       files = {
         ".config/environment.d/${userEnvFile}.conf".text = ''