diff --git a/ops/nixos/lib/common.nix b/ops/nixos/lib/common.nix
index 7814aa1a2b..36d63de5d2 100644
--- a/ops/nixos/lib/common.nix
+++ b/ops/nixos/lib/common.nix
@@ -122,6 +122,7 @@ in
         trusted-substituters = lib.mkForce [ "https://cache.nixos.org/" "s3://lukegb-nix-cache?endpoint=storage.googleapis.com&trusted=1" ];
         experimental-features = "nix-command";
         max-call-depth = "9000000";
+        builders-use-substitutes = "true";
       };
     };
     nixpkgs.config = depot.third_party.nixpkgsConfig;
diff --git a/ops/nixos/lib/macmini-distributed.nix b/ops/nixos/lib/macmini-distributed.nix
index cc2fb53373..7525ae96b0 100644
--- a/ops/nixos/lib/macmini-distributed.nix
+++ b/ops/nixos/lib/macmini-distributed.nix
@@ -21,7 +21,4 @@
     mandatoryFeatures = [ ];
   }];
   nix.distributedBuilds = true;
-  nix.extraOptions = ''
-    builders-use-substitutes = true
-  '';
 }
diff --git a/ops/nixos/lib/nixbuild-distributed.nix b/ops/nixos/lib/nixbuild-distributed.nix
index 14a58450f0..1ce22e8add 100644
--- a/ops/nixos/lib/nixbuild-distributed.nix
+++ b/ops/nixos/lib/nixbuild-distributed.nix
@@ -23,9 +23,6 @@
     mandatoryFeatures = [ ];
   }];
   nix.distributedBuilds = true;
-  nix.extraOptions = ''
-    builders-use-substitutes = true
-  '';
 
   programs.ssh.extraConfig = ''
     Host eu.nixbuild.net
diff --git a/ops/nixos/lib/oracle-lon01-distributed.nix b/ops/nixos/lib/oracle-lon01-distributed.nix
index 448c6fd146..ec5065662b 100644
--- a/ops/nixos/lib/oracle-lon01-distributed.nix
+++ b/ops/nixos/lib/oracle-lon01-distributed.nix
@@ -14,7 +14,4 @@
     mandatoryFeatures = [ ];
   }];
   nix.distributedBuilds = true;
-  nix.extraOptions = ''
-    builders-use-substitutes = true
-  '';
 }
diff --git a/ops/nixos/lib/whitby-distributed.nix b/ops/nixos/lib/whitby-distributed.nix
index 75c4a7c6ea..49644fd835 100644
--- a/ops/nixos/lib/whitby-distributed.nix
+++ b/ops/nixos/lib/whitby-distributed.nix
@@ -16,9 +16,6 @@
     mandatoryFeatures = [ ];
   }];
   nix.distributedBuilds = true;
-  nix.extraOptions = ''
-    builders-use-substitutes = true
-  '';
 
   programs.ssh.extraConfig = ''
     Host whitby-build