diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2311.section.md b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2311.section.md
index 29ee2ec5aa61..70f2916303cd 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2311.section.md
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2311.section.md
@@ -78,6 +78,8 @@
 
 - The Caddy module gained a new option named `services.caddy.enableReload` which is enabled by default. It allows reloading the service instead of restarting it, if only a config file has changed. This option must be disabled if you have turned off the [Caddy admin API](https://caddyserver.com/docs/caddyfile/options#admin). If you keep this option enabled, you should consider setting [`grace_period`](https://caddyserver.com/docs/caddyfile/options#grace-period) to a non-infinite value to prevent Caddy from delaying the reload indefinitely.
 
+- mdraid support is now optional. This reduces initramfs size and prevents automatic import of software RAID pools, which may not be desired. It is disabled by default in new configurations (determined by `stateVersion`), but the appropriate settings will be generated by `nixos-generate-config` when installing to a software RAID device, so the standard installation procedure should be unaffected.
+
 ## Other Notable Changes {#sec-release-23.11-notable-changes}
 
 - The Cinnamon module now enables XDG desktop integration by default. If you are experiencing collisions related to xdg-desktop-portal-gtk you can safely remove `xdg.portal.extraPortals = [ pkgs.xdg-desktop-portal-gtk ];` from your NixOS configuration.
diff --git a/nixos/modules/installer/tools/nixos-generate-config.pl b/nixos/modules/installer/tools/nixos-generate-config.pl
index 2e572ef02473..b08bf1e45d13 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/installer/tools/nixos-generate-config.pl
+++ b/nixos/modules/installer/tools/nixos-generate-config.pl
@@ -381,6 +381,7 @@ sub in {
 
 my $fileSystems;
 my %fsByDev;
+my $useSwraid = 0;
 foreach my $fs (read_file("/proc/self/mountinfo")) {
     chomp $fs;
     my @fields = split / /, $fs;
@@ -510,8 +511,8 @@ EOF
     # boot.initrd.luks.devices entry.
     if (-e $device) {
         my $deviceName = basename(abs_path($device));
-        if (-e "/sys/class/block/$deviceName"
-            && read_file("/sys/class/block/$deviceName/dm/uuid",  err_mode => 'quiet') =~ /^CRYPT-LUKS/)
+        my $dmUuid = read_file("/sys/class/block/$deviceName/dm/uuid",  err_mode => 'quiet');
+        if ($dmUuid =~ /^CRYPT-LUKS/)
         {
             my @slaves = glob("/sys/class/block/$deviceName/slaves/*");
             if (scalar @slaves == 1) {
@@ -527,8 +528,14 @@ EOF
                 }
             }
         }
+        if (-e "/sys/class/block/$deviceName/md/uuid") {
+            $useSwraid = 1;
+        }
     }
 }
+if ($useSwraid) {
+    push @attrs, "boot.initrd.services.swraid.enable = true;\n\n";
+}
 
 
 # Generate the hardware configuration file.
diff --git a/nixos/modules/profiles/installation-device.nix b/nixos/modules/profiles/installation-device.nix
index 32884f4b8754..eea58294fb15 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/profiles/installation-device.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/profiles/installation-device.nix
@@ -106,6 +106,10 @@ with lib;
         systemdStage1Network
       ];
 
+    boot.initrd.services = {
+      swraid.enable = true;
+    };
+
     # Show all debug messages from the kernel but don't log refused packets
     # because we have the firewall enabled. This makes installs from the
     # console less cumbersome if the machine has a public IP.
diff --git a/nixos/modules/tasks/swraid.nix b/nixos/modules/tasks/swraid.nix
index 1c3f1db15099..fde0f7e0091a 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/tasks/swraid.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/tasks/swraid.nix
@@ -6,11 +6,11 @@ in {
 
   options.boot.initrd.services.swraid = {
     enable = lib.mkEnableOption (lib.mdDoc "swraid support using mdadm") // {
-      description = ''
-        *This will only be used when systemd is used in stage 1.*
-
+      description = lib.mdDoc ''
         Whether to enable swraid support using mdadm.
       '';
+      default = lib.versionOlder config.system.stateVersion "23.11";
+      defaultText = lib.mdDoc "`true` if stateVersion is older than 23.11";
     };
 
     mdadmConf = lib.mkOption {
@@ -20,20 +20,20 @@ in {
     };
   };
 
-  config = {
+  config = lib.mkIf cfg.enable {
     environment.systemPackages = [ pkgs.mdadm ];
 
     services.udev.packages = [ pkgs.mdadm ];
 
     systemd.packages = [ pkgs.mdadm ];
 
-    boot.initrd.availableKernelModules = lib.mkIf (config.boot.initrd.systemd.enable -> cfg.enable) [ "md_mod" "raid0" "raid1" "raid10" "raid456" ];
+    boot.initrd.availableKernelModules = [ "md_mod" "raid0" "raid1" "raid10" "raid456" ];
 
     boot.initrd.extraUdevRulesCommands = lib.mkIf (!config.boot.initrd.systemd.enable) ''
       cp -v ${pkgs.mdadm}/lib/udev/rules.d/*.rules $out/
     '';
 
-    boot.initrd.systemd = lib.mkIf cfg.enable {
+    boot.initrd.systemd = {
       contents."/etc/mdadm.conf" = lib.mkIf (cfg.mdadmConf != "") {
         text = cfg.mdadmConf;
       };
@@ -42,6 +42,6 @@ in {
       initrdBin = [ pkgs.mdadm ];
     };
 
-    boot.initrd.services.udev.packages = lib.mkIf cfg.enable [ pkgs.mdadm ];
+    boot.initrd.services.udev.packages = [ pkgs.mdadm ];
   };
 }
diff --git a/nixos/tests/installer-systemd-stage-1.nix b/nixos/tests/installer-systemd-stage-1.nix
index 05fb2b2ae89c..85155a6c682b 100644
--- a/nixos/tests/installer-systemd-stage-1.nix
+++ b/nixos/tests/installer-systemd-stage-1.nix
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
     simpleUefiGrubSpecialisation
     simpleUefiSystemdBoot
     stratisRoot
-    # swraid
+    swraid
     zfsroot
     ;