diff --git a/hosts/common/home/zsh/default.nix b/hosts/common/home/zsh/default.nix
index ee3e1154a..0e55b658a 100644
--- a/hosts/common/home/zsh/default.nix
+++ b/hosts/common/home/zsh/default.nix
@@ -96,6 +96,10 @@ lib.mkIf config.sane.home-manager.enable
     vteIntegration = true;
   };
 
+  # enable a command-not-found hook to show nix packages that might provide the binary typed.
+  programs.nix-index.enable = true;
+  programs.command-not-found.enable = false;  #< mutually exclusive with nix-index
+
   # prezto = oh-my-zsh fork; controls prompt, auto-completion, etc.
   # see: https://github.com/sorin-ionescu/prezto
   # i believe this file is auto-sourced by the prezto init.zsh script.
diff --git a/modules/home-manager/default.nix b/modules/home-manager/default.nix
index 95afd9905..f6fe4179d 100644
--- a/modules/home-manager/default.nix
+++ b/modules/home-manager/default.nix
@@ -51,9 +51,8 @@ in
 
       programs = lib.mkMerge [
         {
-          home-manager.enable = true;  # this lets home-manager manage dot-files in user dirs, i think
-          # "command not found" will cause the command to be searched in nixpkgs
-          nix-index.enable = true;
+          # XXX: unsure what this does?
+          home-manager.enable = true;
         }
         cfg.programs
       ];