diff --git a/modules/image.nix b/modules/image.nix
index da56d89c..42ac06d3 100644
--- a/modules/image.nix
+++ b/modules/image.nix
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ in
 {
   options = {
     sane.image.enable = mkOption {
+      # TODO: why is this enable option even needed?
       default = true;
       type = types.bool;
       description = "whether to enable image targets. even so they won't be built unless you specifically reference the `system.build.img` target.";
@@ -58,8 +59,13 @@ in
       type = types.nullOr types.int;
     };
     sane.image.bootPartSize = mkOption {
-      default = 512 * 1024 * 1024;
+      default = 1024 * 1024 * 1024;
       type = types.int;
+      description = ''
+        size of the boot partition, in bytes.
+        don't skimp on this. nixos kernels are by default HUGE, and restricting this
+        will make kernel tweaking extra painful.
+      '';
     };
     sane.image.sectorSize = mkOption {
       default = 512;