diff --git a/release.nix b/release.nix
index 662b7d14..b1d1f472 100644
--- a/release.nix
+++ b/release.nix
@@ -96,6 +96,7 @@ let
     tests.networking-hostname = makeTest ./tests/networking-hostname.nix;
     tests.networking-networkservices = makeTest ./tests/networking-networkservices.nix;
     tests.nixpkgs-overlays = makeTest ./tests/nixpkgs-overlays.nix;
+    tests.programs-ssh = makeTest ./tests/programs-ssh.nix;
     tests.programs-zsh = makeTest ./tests/programs-zsh.nix;
     tests.services-activate-system = makeTest ./tests/services-activate-system.nix;
     tests.services-buildkite-agent = makeTest ./tests/services-buildkite-agent.nix;
diff --git a/tests/programs-ssh.nix b/tests/programs-ssh.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a6207fca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/programs-ssh.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+{ config, pkgs, ... }:
+
+{
+  programs.ssh.knownHosts = [
+    {
+      hostNames = [ "github.com" ];
+      publicKey = "ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAABIwAAAQEAq2A7hRGmdnm9tUDbO9IDSwBK6TbQa+PXYPCPy6rbTrTtw7PHkccKrpp0yVhp5HdEIcKr6pLlVDBfOLX9QUsyCOV0wzfjIJNlGEYsdlLJizHhbn2mUjvSAHQqZETYP81eFzLQNnPHt4EVVUh7VfDESU84KezmD5QlWpXLmvU31/yMf+Se8xhHTvKSCZIFImWwoG6mbUoWf9nzpIoaSjB+weqqUUmpaaasXVal72J+UX2B+2RPW3RcT0eOzQgqlJL3RKrTJvdsjE3JEAvGq3lGHSZXy28G3skua2SmVi/w4yCE6gbODqnTWlg7+wC604ydGXA8VJiS5ap43JXiUFFAaQ==";
+    }
+  ];
+
+  test = ''
+    echo >&2 "checking for github.com in /etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts"
+    grep 'github.com ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAABIwAAAQEAq2A7hRGmdnm9tUDbO9IDSwBK6TbQa+PXYPCPy6rbTrTtw7PHkccKrpp0yVhp5HdEIcKr6pLlVDBfOLX9QUsyCOV0wzfjIJNlGEYsdlLJizHhbn2mUjvSAHQqZETYP81eFzLQNnPHt4EVVUh7VfDESU84KezmD5QlWpXLmvU31/yMf+Se8xhHTvKSCZIFImWwoG6mbUoWf9nzpIoaSjB+weqqUUmpaaasXVal72J+UX2B+2RPW3RcT0eOzQgqlJL3RKrTJvdsjE3JEAvGq3lGHSZXy28G3skua2SmVi/w4yCE6gbODqnTWlg7+wC604ydGXA8VJiS5ap43JXiUFFAaQ==' ${config.out}/etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts
+  '';
+}