diff --git a/hosts/modules/hal/pine64-pinephone-pro/default.nix b/hosts/modules/hal/pine64-pinephone-pro/default.nix
index 1ffbbe5de..5382a7547 100644
--- a/hosts/modules/hal/pine64-pinephone-pro/default.nix
+++ b/hosts/modules/hal/pine64-pinephone-pro/default.nix
@@ -120,6 +120,20 @@ in
       config.boot.kernelPackages.rk818-charger  #< rk818 battery/charger isn't mainline as of 2024-10-01
     ];
 
+    # default nixos behavior is to error if a kernel module is provided by more than one package.
+    # in fact, i'm _intentionally_ overwriting the in-tree modules, so inline this buildEnv logic
+    # from <repo:nixos/nixpkgs:nixos/modules/system/boot/kernel.nix> AKA pkgs.aggregateModules
+    # but configured to **ignore collisions**
+    system.modulesTree = lib.mkForce [(
+      (pkgs.aggregateModules
+        ( config.boot.extraModulePackages ++ [ config.boot.kernelPackages.kernel ])
+      ).overrideAttrs {
+        # earlier items override the contents of later items
+        ignoreCollisions = true;
+        # checkCollisionContents = false;
+      }
+    )];
+
     boot.kernelModules = [
       # these don't get probed automatically, not sure why (shouldn't the device tree cause it to be auto-loaded?)
       # but are needed for battery capacity/charging info
diff --git a/pkgs/additional/linux-sane-pinephonepro/default.nix b/pkgs/additional/linux-sane-pinephonepro/default.nix
index ab67b1841..667760e8a 100644
--- a/pkgs/additional/linux-sane-pinephonepro/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/additional/linux-sane-pinephonepro/default.nix
@@ -384,12 +384,12 @@ linux_latest.override {
       name = "make-module-for-out-of-tree";
       patch = null;
       extraStructuredConfig = with lib.kernel; {
-        MFD_RK8XX = no;
-        MFD_RK8XX_I2C = no;
-        MFD_RK8XX_SPI = no;  #< necessary for MFD_RK8XX=... to apply
-        # MFD_RK8XX = module;
-        # MFD_RK8XX_I2C = module;
-        # MFD_RK8XX_SPI = module;
+        # MFD_RK8XX = no;
+        # MFD_RK8XX_I2C = no;
+        # MFD_RK8XX_SPI = no;  #< necessary for MFD_RK8XX=... to apply
+        MFD_RK8XX = module;
+        MFD_RK8XX_I2C = module;
+        MFD_RK8XX_SPI = module;
       };
     }
   ];