diff --git a/nixos/lib/make-multi-disk-zfs-image.nix b/nixos/lib/make-multi-disk-zfs-image.nix
index 1dac232e2b8c4..b2489989092a7 100644
--- a/nixos/lib/make-multi-disk-zfs-image.nix
+++ b/nixos/lib/make-multi-disk-zfs-image.nix
@@ -236,8 +236,7 @@ let
   image = (
     pkgs.vmTools.override {
       rootModules =
-        [ "zfs" "9p" "9pnet_virtio" "virtio_pci" "virtio_blk" ] ++
-          (pkgs.lib.optional pkgs.stdenv.hostPlatform.isx86 "rtc_cmos");
+        [ "zfs" "9p" "9pnet_virtio" "virtio_pci" "virtio_blk" ];
       kernel = modulesTree;
     }
   ).runInLinuxVM (
diff --git a/nixos/lib/make-single-disk-zfs-image.nix b/nixos/lib/make-single-disk-zfs-image.nix
index e37b79797dcaa..cd65d596e0511 100644
--- a/nixos/lib/make-single-disk-zfs-image.nix
+++ b/nixos/lib/make-single-disk-zfs-image.nix
@@ -226,8 +226,7 @@ let
   image = (
     pkgs.vmTools.override {
       rootModules =
-        [ "zfs" "9p" "9pnet_virtio" "virtio_pci" "virtio_blk" ] ++
-        (pkgs.lib.optional pkgs.stdenv.hostPlatform.isx86 "rtc_cmos");
+        [ "zfs" "9p" "9pnet_virtio" "virtio_pci" "virtio_blk" ];
       kernel = modulesTree;
     }
   ).runInLinuxVM (
diff --git a/nixos/modules/system/boot/kernel.nix b/nixos/modules/system/boot/kernel.nix
index 4854119b25382..d25a6e98497e7 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/system/boot/kernel.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/system/boot/kernel.nix
@@ -306,9 +306,6 @@ in
           ] ++ optionals pkgs.stdenv.hostPlatform.isx86 [
             # Misc. x86 keyboard stuff.
             "pcips2" "atkbd" "i8042"
-
-            # x86 RTC needed by the stage 2 init script.
-            "rtc_cmos"
           ]);
 
         boot.initrd.kernelModules =
diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/vm/default.nix b/pkgs/build-support/vm/default.nix
index aa504babdac57..29ae21e50c4d8 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/vm/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/vm/default.nix
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@
 , storeDir ? builtins.storeDir
 , rootModules ?
     [ "virtio_pci" "virtio_mmio" "virtio_blk" "virtio_balloon" "virtio_rng" "ext4" "unix" "9p" "9pnet_virtio" "crc32c_generic" ]
-      ++ pkgs.lib.optional pkgs.stdenv.hostPlatform.isx86 "rtc_cmos"
 }:
 
 let