diff --git a/nixos/modules/config/users-groups.nix b/nixos/modules/config/users-groups.nix
index f86be3be2c65..332b59894abc 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/config/users-groups.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/config/users-groups.nix
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ let
       group = mkOption {
         type = types.str;
         apply = x: assert (builtins.stringLength x < 32 || abort "Group name '${x}' is longer than 31 characters which is not allowed!"); x;
-        default = "nogroup";
+        default = "";
         description = "The user's primary group.";
       };
 
@@ -638,6 +638,16 @@ in {
               Exactly one of users.users.${user.name}.isSystemUser and users.users.${user.name}.isNormalUser must be set.
             '';
           }
+          {
+            assertion = user.group != "";
+            message = ''
+              users.users.${user.name}.group is unset. This used to default to
+              nogroup, but this is unsafe. For example you can create a group
+              for this user with:
+              users.users.${user.name}.group = "${user.name}";
+              users.groups.${user.name} = {};
+            '';
+          }
         ]
     ));