diff --git a/nixos/modules/virtualisation/oci-containers.nix b/nixos/modules/virtualisation/oci-containers.nix
index 61593dc234ab73..94b7a2b17b7971 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/virtualisation/oci-containers.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/virtualisation/oci-containers.nix
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ let
   defaultBackend = options.virtualisation.oci-containers.backend.default;
 
   containerOptions =
-    { ... }:
+    { name, ... }:
     {
 
       options = {
@@ -59,6 +59,12 @@ let
           example = literalExpression "pkgs.dockerTools.streamLayeredImage {...};";
         };
 
+        serviceName = mkOption {
+          type = types.str;
+          default = "${cfg.backend}-${name}";
+          description = "Systemd service name that manages the container";
+        };
+
         login = {
 
           username = mkOption {
@@ -526,7 +532,7 @@ in
     lib.mkMerge [
       {
         systemd.services = mapAttrs' (
-          n: v: nameValuePair "${cfg.backend}-${n}" (mkService n v)
+          n: v: nameValuePair v.serviceName (mkService n v)
         ) cfg.containers;
 
         assertions =