diff --git a/nixos/modules/module-list.nix b/nixos/modules/module-list.nix
index 7b04ebaba27..f73b8bc25e2 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/module-list.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/module-list.nix
@@ -461,7 +461,7 @@
   ./services/web-servers/lighttpd/default.nix
   ./services/web-servers/lighttpd/gitweb.nix
   ./services/web-servers/nginx/default.nix
-  ./services/web-servers/phpfpm.nix
+  ./services/web-servers/phpfpm/default.nix
   ./services/web-servers/shellinabox.nix
   ./services/web-servers/tomcat.nix
   ./services/web-servers/uwsgi.nix
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/web-servers/phpfpm.nix b/nixos/modules/services/web-servers/phpfpm/default.nix
similarity index 67%
rename from nixos/modules/services/web-servers/phpfpm.nix
rename to nixos/modules/services/web-servers/phpfpm/default.nix
index 2658d7117e3..6befddf9f52 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/web-servers/phpfpm.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/web-servers/phpfpm/default.nix
@@ -9,6 +9,12 @@ let
 
   pidFile = "${stateDir}/phpfpm.pid";
 
+  mkPool = n: p: ''
+    [${n}]
+    listen = ${p.listen}
+    ${p.extraConfig}
+  '';
+
   cfgFile = pkgs.writeText "phpfpm.conf" ''
     [global]
     pid = ${pidFile}
@@ -16,7 +22,7 @@ let
     daemonize = yes
     ${cfg.extraConfig}
 
-    ${concatStringsSep "\n" (mapAttrsToList (n: v: "[${n}]\n${v}") cfg.poolConfigs)}
+    ${concatStringsSep "\n" (mapAttrsToList mkPool cfg.pools)}
   '';
 
   phpIni = pkgs.writeText "php.ini" ''
@@ -61,33 +67,19 @@ in {
           "Options appended to the PHP configuration file <filename>php.ini</filename>.";
       };
 
-      poolConfigs = mkOption {
-        type = types.attrsOf types.lines;
+      pools = mkOption {
+        type = types.attrsOf (types.submodule (import ./pool-options.nix {
+          inherit lib;
+        }));
         default = {};
-        example = literalExample ''
-          { mypool = '''
-              listen = /run/phpfpm/mypool
-              user = nobody
-              pm = dynamic
-              pm.max_children = 75
-              pm.start_servers = 10
-              pm.min_spare_servers = 5
-              pm.max_spare_servers = 20
-              pm.max_requests = 500
-            ''';
-          }
-        '';
         description = ''
-          A mapping between PHP FPM pool names and their configurations.
-          See the documentation on <literal>php-fpm.conf</literal> for
-          details on configuration directives. If no pools are defined,
-          the phpfpm service is disabled.
+          If no pools are defined, the phpfpm service is disabled.
         '';
       };
     };
   };
 
-  config = mkIf (cfg.poolConfigs != {}) {
+  config = mkIf (cfg.pools != {}) {
 
     systemd.services.phpfpm = {
       wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/web-servers/phpfpm/pool-options.nix b/nixos/modules/services/web-servers/phpfpm/pool-options.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..cc688c2c48a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/web-servers/phpfpm/pool-options.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+{ lib }:
+
+with lib; {
+
+  options = {
+
+    listen = mkOption {
+      type = types.str;
+      example = "/path/to/unix/socket";
+      description = ''
+        The address on which to accept FastCGI requests.
+      '';
+    };
+
+    extraConfig = mkOption {
+      type = types.lines;
+      example = ''
+        user = nobody
+        pm = dynamic
+        pm.max_children = 75
+        pm.start_servers = 10
+        pm.min_spare_servers = 5
+        pm.max_spare_servers = 20
+        pm.max_requests = 500
+      '';
+
+      description = ''
+        Extra lines that go into the pool configuration.
+        See the documentation on <literal>php-fpm.conf</literal> for
+        details on configuration directives.
+      '';
+    };
+  };
+}
+