diff --git a/modules/misc/xdg-portal.nix b/modules/misc/xdg-portal.nix
index 500e02e00..af305374a 100644
--- a/modules/misc/xdg-portal.nix
+++ b/modules/misc/xdg-portal.nix
@@ -82,28 +82,9 @@ in {
 
   config = let
     cfg = config.xdg.portal;
-
-    joinedPortals = pkgs.buildEnv {
-      name = "xdg-portals";
-      paths = cfg.extraPortals;
-      pathsToLink =
-        [ "/share/xdg-desktop-portal/portals" "/share/applications" ];
-    };
-
-    portalConfigPath = n:
-      "share/xdg-desktop-portal/${
-        optionalString (n != "common") "${n}-"
-      }portals.conf";
-    mkPortalConfig = desktop: conf:
-      pkgs.writeTextDir (portalConfigPath desktop)
-      (lib.generators.toINI { } { preferred = conf; });
-
-    joinedPortalConfigs = pkgs.buildEnv {
-      name = "xdg-portal-configs";
-      ignoreCollisions = true; # Let config override configPackages cfgs
-      paths = (mapAttrsToList mkPortalConfig cfg.config) ++ cfg.configPackages;
-      pathsToLink = [ "/share/xdg-desktop-portal" ];
-    };
+    packages = [ pkgs.xdg-desktop-portal ] ++ cfg.extraPortals;
+    portalsDir =
+      "${config.home.profileDirectory}/share/xdg-desktop-portal/portals";
   in mkIf cfg.enable {
     warnings = optional (cfg.configPackages == [ ] && cfg.config == { }) ''
       xdg-desktop-portal 1.17 reworked how portal implementations are loaded, you
@@ -129,29 +110,21 @@ in {
     ];
 
     home = {
-      sessionVariables =
-        mkIf cfg.xdgOpenUsePortal { NIXOS_XDG_OPEN_USE_PORTAL = "1"; };
-
-      # Make extraPortals systemd units available to the user
-      packages = [ pkgs.xdg-desktop-portal ] ++ cfg.extraPortals;
+      packages = packages ++ cfg.configPackages;
+      sessionVariables = mkMerge [
+        (mkIf cfg.xdgOpenUsePortal { NIXOS_XDG_OPEN_USE_PORTAL = "1"; })
+        { NIX_XDG_DESKTOP_PORTAL_DIR = portalsDir; }
+      ];
+    };
+    systemd.user.sessionVariables = {
+      NIX_XDG_DESKTOP_PORTAL_DIR = portalsDir;
     };
 
-    systemd.user.services.xdg-desktop-portal = {
-      Unit = {
-        Description = "Portal service";
-        PartOf = "graphical-session.target";
-      };
-
-      Service = {
-        Environment = [
-          "XDG_DESKTOP_PORTAL_DIR=${joinedPortals}/share/xdg-desktop-portal/portals"
-        ] ++ (optional (cfg.configPackages != [ ])
-          "NIXOS_XDG_DESKTOP_PORTAL_CONFIG_DIR=${joinedPortalConfigs}/share/xdg-desktop-portal");
-        Type = "dbus";
-        BusName = "org.freedesktop.portal.Desktop";
-        ExecStart = "${pkgs.xdg-desktop-portal}/libexec/xdg-desktop-portal";
-        Slice = "session.slice";
-      };
-    };
+    xdg.configFile = lib.concatMapAttrs (desktop: conf:
+      lib.optionalAttrs (conf != { }) {
+        "xdg-desktop-portal/${
+          lib.optionalString (desktop != "common") "${desktop}-"
+        }portals.conf".text = lib.generators.toINI { } { preferred = conf; };
+      }) cfg.config;
   };
 }
diff --git a/tests/modules/misc/xdg/portal.nix b/tests/modules/misc/xdg/portal.nix
index 5c6e46995..e9ac8e381 100644
--- a/tests/modules/misc/xdg/portal.nix
+++ b/tests/modules/misc/xdg/portal.nix
@@ -10,28 +10,18 @@ lib.mkIf config.test.enableBig {
   };
 
   nmt.script = ''
-    xdgDesktopPortal=home-files/.config/systemd/user/xdg-desktop-portal.service
-    assertFileExists $xdgDesktopPortal
+    assertFileExists home-path/share/systemd/user/xdg-desktop-portal.service
+    assertFileExists home-path/share/systemd/user/xdg-desktop-portal-wlr.service
+    assertFileExists home-path/share/systemd/user/xdg-desktop-portal-hyprland.service
 
-    xdgDesktopPortalWlr=home-path/share/systemd/user/xdg-desktop-portal-wlr.service
-    assertFileExists $xdgDesktopPortalWlr
-
-    xdgDesktopPortalHyprland=home-path/share/systemd/user/xdg-desktop-portal-hyprland.service
-    assertFileExists $xdgDesktopPortalHyprland
-
-    portalsDir="$(cat $TESTED/$xdgDesktopPortal | grep Environment=XDG_DESKTOP_PORTAL_DIR | cut -d '=' -f3)"
-    portalConfigsDir="$(cat $TESTED/$xdgDesktopPortal | grep Environment=NIXOS_XDG_DESKTOP_PORTAL_CONFIG_DIR | cut -d '=' -f3)"
-
-    assertFileContent $portalsDir/hyprland.portal \
+    assertFileContent home-path/share/xdg-desktop-portal/portals/hyprland.portal \
       ${pkgs.xdg-desktop-portal-hyprland}/share/xdg-desktop-portal/portals/hyprland.portal
-
-    assertFileContent $portalsDir/wlr.portal \
+    assertFileContent home-path/share/xdg-desktop-portal/portals/wlr.portal \
       ${pkgs.xdg-desktop-portal-wlr}/share/xdg-desktop-portal/portals/wlr.portal
 
-    assertFileContent $portalConfigsDir/hyprland-portals.conf \
+    assertFileContent home-path/share/xdg-desktop-portal/hyprland-portals.conf \
       ${pkgs.hyprland}/share/xdg-desktop-portal/hyprland-portals.conf
-
-    assertFileContent $portalConfigsDir/sway-portals.conf \
+    assertFileContent home-files/.config/xdg-desktop-portal/sway-portals.conf \
       ${./sway-portals-expected.conf}
   '';
 }