diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/development/running-nixos-tests-interactively.section.md b/nixos/doc/manual/development/running-nixos-tests-interactively.section.md
index 4c399586eb52..a1431859ff59 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/development/running-nixos-tests-interactively.section.md
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/development/running-nixos-tests-interactively.section.md
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ when developing or debugging a test:
 
 ```ShellSession
 $ nix-build . -A nixosTests.login.driverInteractive
-$ ./result/bin/nixos-test-driver --interactive
+$ ./result/bin/nixos-test-driver
 [...]
 >>>
 ```
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ You can re-use the VM states coming from a previous run by setting the
 `--keep-vm-state` flag.
 
 ```ShellSession
-$ ./result/bin/nixos-test-driver --interactive --keep-vm-state
+$ ./result/bin/nixos-test-driver --keep-vm-state
 ```
 
 The machine state is stored in the `$TMPDIR/vm-state-machinename`
diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/from_md/development/running-nixos-tests-interactively.section.xml b/nixos/doc/manual/from_md/development/running-nixos-tests-interactively.section.xml
index 8348ab56deb3..0e47350a0d24 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/from_md/development/running-nixos-tests-interactively.section.xml
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/from_md/development/running-nixos-tests-interactively.section.xml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
   </para>
   <programlisting>
 $ nix-build . -A nixosTests.login.driverInteractive
-$ ./result/bin/nixos-test-driver --interactive
+$ ./result/bin/nixos-test-driver
 [...]
 &gt;&gt;&gt;
 </programlisting>
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ $ ./result/bin/nixos-test-driver --interactive
     the <literal>--keep-vm-state</literal> flag.
   </para>
   <programlisting>
-$ ./result/bin/nixos-test-driver --interactive --keep-vm-state
+$ ./result/bin/nixos-test-driver --keep-vm-state
 </programlisting>
   <para>
     The machine state is stored in the
diff --git a/nixos/lib/test-driver/test_driver/__init__.py b/nixos/lib/test-driver/test_driver/__init__.py
index 498a4f56c55b..61d91c9ed654 100755
--- a/nixos/lib/test-driver/test_driver/__init__.py
+++ b/nixos/lib/test-driver/test_driver/__init__.py
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ def main() -> None:
         "-I",
         "--interactive",
         help="drop into a python repl and run the tests interactively",
-        action="store_true",
+        action=argparse.BooleanOptionalAction,
     )
     arg_parser.add_argument(
         "--start-scripts",
diff --git a/nixos/lib/testing-python.nix b/nixos/lib/testing-python.nix
index a67040468136..3d89e5484d16 100644
--- a/nixos/lib/testing-python.nix
+++ b/nixos/lib/testing-python.nix
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ rec {
     , enableOCR ? false
     , skipLint ? false
     , passthru ? {}
+    , interactive ? false
   }:
     let
       # Reifies and correctly wraps the python test driver for
@@ -139,7 +140,8 @@ rec {
         wrapProgram $out/bin/nixos-test-driver \
           --set startScripts "''${vmStartScripts[*]}" \
           --set testScript "$out/test-script" \
-          --set vlans '${toString vlans}'
+          --set vlans '${toString vlans}' \
+          ${lib.optionalString (interactive) "--add-flags --interactive"}
       '');
 
   # Make a full-blown test
@@ -217,6 +219,7 @@ rec {
         testName = name;
         qemu_pkg = pkgs.qemu;
         nodes = nodes pkgs.qemu;
+        interactive = true;
       };
 
       test =