diff --git a/modules/users/default.nix b/modules/users/default.nix
index f537f6be..aaf2f9a6 100644
--- a/modules/users/default.nix
+++ b/modules/users/default.nix
@@ -158,5 +158,16 @@ in
       '') deletedUsers}
     '';
 
+    environment.etc = mapAttrs' (name: { packages, ... }: {
+      name = "profiles/per-user/${name}";
+      value.source = pkgs.buildEnv {
+        name = "user-environment";
+        paths = packages;
+        inherit (config.environment) pathsToLink extraOutputsToInstall;
+        inherit (config.system.path) postBuild;
+      };
+    }) (filterAttrs (_: u: u.packages != []) cfg.users);
+
+    environment.profiles = [ "/etc/profiles/per-user/$USER" ];
   };
 }
diff --git a/modules/users/user.nix b/modules/users/user.nix
index 3f39473d..ec8ecb83 100644
--- a/modules/users/user.nix
+++ b/modules/users/user.nix
@@ -57,6 +57,17 @@ with lib;
       example = literalExample "pkgs.bashInteractive";
       description = "The user's shell.";
     };
+
+    packages = mkOption {
+      type = types.listOf types.package;
+      default = [];
+      example = literalExample "[ pkgs.firefox pkgs.thunderbird ]";
+      description = ''
+        The set of packages that should be made availabe to the user.
+        This is in contrast to <option>environment.systemPackages</option>,
+        which adds packages to all users.
+      '';
+    };
   };
 
   config = {
diff --git a/tests/users-packages.nix b/tests/users-packages.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..dfcc743f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/users-packages.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+{ config, pkgs, ... }:
+
+{
+  users.knownUsers = [ "foo" ];
+  users.users.foo.uid = 42000;
+  users.users.foo.gid = 42000;
+  users.users.foo.description = "Foo user";
+  users.users.foo.isHidden = false;
+  users.users.foo.home = "/Users/foo";
+  users.users.foo.shell = "/run/current-system/sw/bin/bash";
+  users.users.foo.packages = [ pkgs.hello ];
+
+  test = ''
+    echo "checking for hello in /etc/profiles/per-user/foo" >&2
+    test -x /etc/profiles/per-user/foo/bin/hello
+  '';
+}