diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/common-config.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/common-config.nix
index cd71d563a2f..1dc161cca54 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/common-config.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/common-config.nix
@@ -238,7 +238,9 @@ with stdenv.lib;
   FANOTIFY y
   TMPFS y
   TMPFS_POSIX_ACL y
-  FS_ENCRYPTION? m
+  ${optionalString (versionAtLeast version "4.9") ''
+    FS_ENCRYPTION? m
+  ''}
   EXT2_FS_XATTR y
   EXT2_FS_POSIX_ACL y
   EXT2_FS_SECURITY y