diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/networking/unbound.nix b/nixos/modules/services/networking/unbound.nix
index 8438e472e11e..17c6789827b9 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/networking/unbound.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/networking/unbound.nix
@@ -76,12 +76,13 @@ in {
 
       checkconf = mkOption {
         type = types.bool;
-        default = !cfg.settings ? include;
-        defaultText = "!config.services.unbound.settings ? include";
+        default = !cfg.settings ? include && !cfg.settings ? remote-control;
+        defaultText = "!services.unbound.settings ? include && !services.unbound.settings ? remote-control";
         description = lib.mdDoc ''
           Wether to check the resulting config file with unbound checkconf for syntax errors.
 
-          If settings.include is used, then this options is disabled, as the import can likely not be resolved at build time.
+          If settings.include is used, this options is disabled, as the import can likely not be accessed at build time.
+          If settings.remote-control is used, this option is disabled, too as the control-key-file, server-cert-file and server-key-file cannot be accessed at build time.
         '';
       };