diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/x11/desktop-managers/plasma5.nix b/nixos/modules/services/x11/desktop-managers/plasma5.nix
index aa1359bf3584..44faa19bc22a 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/x11/desktop-managers/plasma5.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/x11/desktop-managers/plasma5.nix
@@ -623,7 +623,9 @@ in
         ];
 
       services.xserver.displayManager.sessionPackages = [ pkgs.plasma5Packages.plasma-bigscreen ];
-      services.udev.packages = [ pkgs.plasma5Packages.plasma-remotecontrollers ];
+
+      # required for plasma-remotecontrollers to work correctly
+      hardware.uinput.enable = true;
     })
   ];
 }
diff --git a/nixos/tests/plasma-bigscreen.nix b/nixos/tests/plasma-bigscreen.nix
index ab459b6bffbe..1c61cafcbff3 100644
--- a/nixos/tests/plasma-bigscreen.nix
+++ b/nixos/tests/plasma-bigscreen.nix
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ import ./make-test-python.nix ({ pkgs, ...} :
       enable = true;
       user = "alice";
     };
+
+    users.users.alice.extraGroups = ["uinput"];
   };
 
   testScript = { nodes, ... }: let