diff --git a/modules/programs/helix.nix b/modules/programs/helix.nix
index 86a17a353..1bd3eb8ec 100644
--- a/modules/programs/helix.nix
+++ b/modules/programs/helix.nix
@@ -229,24 +229,31 @@ in
 
     xdg.configFile =
       let
-        settings = {
-          "helix/config.toml" = mkIf (cfg.settings != { }) {
-            source =
-              let
-                configFile = tomlFormat.generate "config.toml" cfg.settings;
-                extraConfigFile = pkgs.writeText "extra-config.toml" ("\n" + cfg.extraConfig);
-              in
-              pkgs.runCommand "helix-config.toml" { } ''
-                cat ${configFile} ${extraConfigFile} >> $out
-              '';
+        settings =
+          let
+            hasSettings = cfg.settings != { };
+            hasExtraConfig = cfg.extraConfig != null;
+          in
+          {
+            "helix/config.toml" = mkIf (hasSettings || hasExtraConfig) {
+              source =
+                let
+                  configFile = tomlFormat.generate "config.toml" cfg.settings;
+                  extraConfigFile = pkgs.writeText "extra-config.toml" (
+                    lib.optionalString hasSettings "\n" + cfg.extraConfig
+                  );
+                in
+                pkgs.runCommand "helix-config.toml" { } ''
+                  cat ${configFile} ${extraConfigFile} >> $out
+                '';
+            };
+            "helix/languages.toml" = mkIf (cfg.languages != { }) {
+              source = tomlFormat.generate "helix-languages-config" cfg.languages;
+            };
+            "helix/ignore" = mkIf (cfg.ignores != [ ]) {
+              text = lib.concatStringsSep "\n" cfg.ignores + "\n";
+            };
           };
-          "helix/languages.toml" = mkIf (cfg.languages != { }) {
-            source = tomlFormat.generate "helix-languages-config" cfg.languages;
-          };
-          "helix/ignore" = mkIf (cfg.ignores != [ ]) {
-            text = lib.concatStringsSep "\n" cfg.ignores + "\n";
-          };
-        };
 
         themes = lib.mapAttrs' (
           n: v:
diff --git a/tests/modules/programs/helix/default.nix b/tests/modules/programs/helix/default.nix
index 77172c708..9838207e2 100644
--- a/tests/modules/programs/helix/default.nix
+++ b/tests/modules/programs/helix/default.nix
@@ -1 +1,4 @@
-{ helix-example-settings = ./example-settings.nix; }
+{
+  helix-example-settings = ./example-settings.nix;
+  helix-only-extraconfig = ./only-extraconfig.nix;
+}
diff --git a/tests/modules/programs/helix/only-extraconfig-expected.toml b/tests/modules/programs/helix/only-extraconfig-expected.toml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9a653ba34
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/modules/programs/helix/only-extraconfig-expected.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+[editor]
+auto-pairs = false
diff --git a/tests/modules/programs/helix/only-extraconfig.nix b/tests/modules/programs/helix/only-extraconfig.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c2d3231cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/modules/programs/helix/only-extraconfig.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+{ config, ... }:
+{
+  programs.helix = {
+    enable = true;
+    extraConfig = ''
+      [editor]
+      auto-pairs = false
+    '';
+  };
+
+  nmt.script = ''
+    assertFileContent \
+      home-files/.config/helix/config.toml \
+      ${./only-extraconfig-expected.toml}
+  '';
+}