diff --git a/lib/eval-config.nix b/lib/eval-config.nix
index ffc0db1c7ea..f99f3fbedbb 100644
--- a/lib/eval-config.nix
+++ b/lib/eval-config.nix
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ rec {
     inherit pkgs modules baseModules;
     modulesPath = ../modules;
     pkgs_i686 = import <nixpkgs> { system = "i686-linux"; };
+    utils = {}; # forward compatibility
   };
 
   # Import Nixpkgs, allowing the NixOS option nixpkgs.config to