diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/networking/ssh/sshd.nix b/nixos/modules/services/networking/ssh/sshd.nix
index 5f2f6cb07af7..c62bccd462d3 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/networking/ssh/sshd.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/networking/ssh/sshd.nix
@@ -346,6 +346,7 @@ in
                 violates the privacy of users and is not recommended.
               '';
             };
+            UsePAM = mkEnableOption "PAM authentication" // { default = true; };
             UseDns = mkOption {
               type = types.bool;
               # apply if cfg.useDns then "yes" else "no"
@@ -489,6 +490,8 @@ in
                 {manpage}`sshd_config(5)` for details.
               '';
             };
+            # Disabled by default, since pam_motd handles this.
+            PrintMotd = mkEnableOption "printing /etc/motd when a user logs in interactively";
           };
         });
       };
@@ -622,7 +625,7 @@ in
 
     networking.firewall.allowedTCPPorts = optionals cfg.openFirewall cfg.ports;
 
-    security.pam.services.sshd =
+    security.pam.services.sshd = lib.mkIf cfg.settings.UsePAM
       { startSession = true;
         showMotd = true;
         unixAuth = cfg.settings.PasswordAuthentication;
@@ -638,8 +641,6 @@ in
 
     services.openssh.extraConfig = mkOrder 0
       ''
-        UsePAM yes
-
         Banner ${if cfg.banner == null then "none" else pkgs.writeText "ssh_banner" cfg.banner}
 
         AddressFamily ${if config.networking.enableIPv6 then "any" else "inet"}
@@ -657,7 +658,6 @@ in
         ${optionalString cfg.allowSFTP ''
           Subsystem sftp ${cfg.sftpServerExecutable} ${concatStringsSep " " cfg.sftpFlags}
         ''}
-        PrintMotd no # handled by pam_motd
         AuthorizedKeysFile ${toString cfg.authorizedKeysFiles}
         ${optionalString (cfg.authorizedKeysCommand != "none") ''
           AuthorizedKeysCommand ${cfg.authorizedKeysCommand}
diff --git a/nixos/tests/openssh.nix b/nixos/tests/openssh.nix
index 8074fd2ed483..a039986621ca 100644
--- a/nixos/tests/openssh.nix
+++ b/nixos/tests/openssh.nix
@@ -22,6 +22,19 @@ in {
         ];
       };
 
+    server-allowed-users =
+      { ... }:
+
+      {
+        services.openssh = { enable = true; settings.AllowUsers = [ "alice" "bob" ]; };
+        users.groups = { alice = { }; bob = { }; carol = { }; };
+        users.users = {
+          alice = { isNormalUser = true; group = "alice"; openssh.authorizedKeys.keys = [ snakeOilPublicKey ]; };
+          bob = { isNormalUser = true; group = "bob"; openssh.authorizedKeys.keys = [ snakeOilPublicKey ]; };
+          carol = { isNormalUser = true; group = "carol"; openssh.authorizedKeys.keys = [ snakeOilPublicKey ]; };
+        };
+      };
+
     server-lazy =
       { ... }:
 
@@ -95,17 +108,21 @@ in {
         };
       };
 
-    server_allowedusers =
-      { ... }:
-
+    server-no-pam =
+      { pkgs, ... }:
       {
-        services.openssh = { enable = true; settings.AllowUsers = [ "alice" "bob" ]; };
-        users.groups = { alice = { }; bob = { }; carol = { }; };
-        users.users = {
-          alice = { isNormalUser = true; group = "alice"; openssh.authorizedKeys.keys = [ snakeOilPublicKey ]; };
-          bob = { isNormalUser = true; group = "bob"; openssh.authorizedKeys.keys = [ snakeOilPublicKey ]; };
-          carol = { isNormalUser = true; group = "carol"; openssh.authorizedKeys.keys = [ snakeOilPublicKey ]; };
+        programs.ssh.package = pkgs.opensshPackages.openssh.override {
+          withPAM = false;
         };
+        services.openssh = {
+          enable = true;
+          settings = {
+            UsePAM = false;
+          };
+        };
+        users.users.root.openssh.authorizedKeys.keys = [
+          snakeOilPublicKey
+        ];
       };
 
     client =
@@ -119,8 +136,10 @@ in {
     start_all()
 
     server.wait_for_unit("sshd", timeout=30)
+    server_allowed_users.wait_for_unit("sshd", timeout=30)
     server_localhost_only.wait_for_unit("sshd", timeout=30)
     server_match_rule.wait_for_unit("sshd", timeout=30)
+    server_no_pam.wait_for_unit("sshd", timeout=30)
 
     server_lazy.wait_for_unit("sshd.socket", timeout=30)
     server_localhost_only_lazy.wait_for_unit("sshd.socket", timeout=30)
@@ -166,8 +185,9 @@ in {
             "cat ${snakeOilPrivateKey} > privkey.snakeoil"
         )
         client.succeed("chmod 600 privkey.snakeoil")
+        # The final segment in this IP is allocated according to the alphabetical order of machines in this test.
         client.succeed(
-            "ssh -p 2222 -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -i privkey.snakeoil root@192.168.2.4 true",
+            "ssh -p 2222 -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -i privkey.snakeoil root@192.168.2.5 true",
             timeout=30
         )
 
@@ -198,15 +218,25 @@ in {
         )
         client.succeed("chmod 600 privkey.snakeoil")
         client.succeed(
-            "ssh -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -i privkey.snakeoil alice@server_allowedusers true",
+            "ssh -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -i privkey.snakeoil alice@server-allowed-users true",
             timeout=30
         )
         client.succeed(
-            "ssh -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -i privkey.snakeoil bob@server_allowedusers true",
+            "ssh -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -i privkey.snakeoil bob@server-allowed-users true",
             timeout=30
         )
         client.fail(
-            "ssh -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -i privkey.snakeoil carol@server_allowedusers true",
+            "ssh -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -i privkey.snakeoil carol@server-allowed-users true",
+            timeout=30
+        )
+
+    with subtest("no-pam"):
+        client.succeed(
+            "cat ${snakeOilPrivateKey} > privkey.snakeoil"
+        )
+        client.succeed("chmod 600 privkey.snakeoil")
+        client.succeed(
+            "ssh -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -i privkey.snakeoil server-no-pam true",
             timeout=30
         )
   '';