diff --git a/modules/misc/tmpfiles.nix b/modules/misc/tmpfiles.nix
index 531e3cd87..15fc5c38d 100644
--- a/modules/misc/tmpfiles.nix
+++ b/modules/misc/tmpfiles.nix
@@ -9,175 +9,6 @@ let
 
   cfg = config.systemd.user.tmpfiles;
 
-  ruleSubmodule = lib.types.submodule (
-    { name, ... }:
-    {
-      options.type = lib.mkOption {
-        type = lib.types.str;
-        readOnly = true;
-        default = name;
-        defaultText = "‹tmpfiles-type›";
-        example = "d";
-        description = ''
-          The type of operation to perform on the file.
-
-          The type consists of a single letter and optionally one or more
-          modifier characters.
-
-          Please see the upstream documentation for the available types and
-          more details: {manpage}`tmpfiles.d(5)`
-        '';
-      };
-      options.mode = lib.mkOption {
-        type = lib.types.str;
-        default = "-";
-        example = "0755";
-        description = ''
-          The file access mode to use when creating this file or directory.
-        '';
-      };
-      options.user = lib.mkOption {
-        type = lib.types.str;
-        default = "-";
-        example = "root";
-        description = ''
-          The user of the file.
-
-          This may either be a numeric ID or a user/group name.
-
-          If omitted or when set to `"-"`, the user and group of the user who
-          invokes systemd-tmpfiles is used.
-        '';
-      };
-      options.group = lib.mkOption {
-        type = lib.types.str;
-        default = "-";
-        example = "root";
-        description = ''
-          The group of the file.
-
-          This may either be a numeric ID or a user/group name.
-
-          If omitted or when set to `"-"`, the user and group of the user who
-          invokes systemd-tmpfiles is used.
-        '';
-      };
-      options.age = lib.mkOption {
-        type = lib.types.str;
-        default = "-";
-        example = "10d";
-        description = ''
-          Delete a file when it reaches a certain age.
-
-          If a file or directory is older than the current time minus the age
-          field, it is deleted.
-
-          If set to `"-"`, no automatic clean-up is done.
-        '';
-      };
-      options.argument = lib.mkOption {
-        type = lib.types.str;
-        default = "";
-        example = "";
-        description = ''
-          An argument whose meaning depends on the type of operation.
-
-          Please see the upstream documentation for the meaning of this
-          parameter in different situations: {manpage}`tmpfiles.d(5)`
-        '';
-      };
-    }
-  );
-
-  attrsWith' = placeholder: elemType: lib.types.attrsWith { inherit elemType placeholder; };
-
-  nonEmptyAttrsWith' =
-    placeholder: elemType:
-    let
-      attrs = lib.types.addCheck (attrsWith' placeholder elemType) (s: s != { });
-    in
-    attrs
-    // {
-      name = "nonEmptyAttrsOf";
-      description = "non-empty ${attrs.description}";
-      emptyValue = { }; # no .value attribute, meaning there is not empty value
-      substSubModules = m: nonEmptyAttrsWith' placeholder (elemType.substSubModules m);
-    };
-
-  configSubmodule = lib.types.submodule {
-    options.rules = lib.mkOption {
-      description = "The rules contained in this configuration.";
-      example = {
-        "%C".d = {
-          mode = "0755";
-          user = "alice";
-          group = "alice";
-          age = "4 weeks";
-        };
-      };
-      type = nonEmptyAttrsWith' "path" (nonEmptyAttrsWith' "tmpfiles-type" ruleSubmodule);
-    };
-    options.purgeOnChange = lib.mkOption {
-      description = ''
-        Whether the rules that are marked for purging, will automatically
-        be purged when the set of rules changes.
-
-        See {manpage}`systemd-tmpfiles(8)` for details about purging.
-      '';
-      type = lib.types.bool;
-      default = false;
-    };
-  };
-
-  modulePrefix = [
-    "systemd"
-    "user"
-    "tmpfiles"
-    "settings"
-  ];
-
-  mkFileName = configName: "user-tmpfiles.d/home-manager-${configName}.conf";
-
-  mkConfigFile =
-    name: rules:
-    {
-      suffix ? [ name ],
-    }:
-    let
-      escapeArgument = lib.strings.escapeC [
-        "\t"
-        "\n"
-        "\r"
-        " "
-        "\\"
-      ];
-      mkRule = path: rule: ''
-        '${rule.type}' '${path}' '${rule.mode}' '${rule.user}' '${rule.group}' '${rule.age}' ${escapeArgument rule.argument}
-      '';
-    in
-    {
-      text = ''
-        # This file was generated by Home Manager and should not be modified.
-        # Please change the option '${lib.showAttrPath (modulePrefix ++ suffix)}' instead.
-        ${lib.pipe rules [
-          (lib.mapAttrs (_path: lib.attrValues))
-          (lib.mapAttrsToList (path: map (mkRule path)))
-          lib.flatten
-          lib.concatStrings
-        ]}
-      '';
-      onChange = ''
-        run ${pkgs.systemd}/bin/systemd-tmpfiles --user --remove --create ''${DRY_RUN:+--dry-run} '${config.xdg.configHome}/${mkFileName name}'
-      '';
-    };
-
-  nonPurgedConfigs = lib.filterAttrs (_name: config: !config.purgeOnChange) cfg.settings;
-  purgedConfigs = lib.filterAttrs (_name: config: config.purgeOnChange) cfg.settings;
-
-  # WARNING: When changing this path, the next home-manager generation will
-  # not find and the rules of the old generation that are subject to purging.
-  purgedRulesConfigName = "purge-on-change";
-
 in
 {
   meta.maintainers = with lib.maintainers; [
@@ -185,93 +16,42 @@ in
     dawidsowa
   ];
 
-  imports = [
-    (lib.mkRemovedOptionModule [ "systemd" "user" "tmpfiles" "rules" ] ''
-      It has been replaced by 'systemd.user.tmpfiles.settings'.
-    '')
-  ];
-
-  options.systemd.user.tmpfiles.settings = lib.mkOption {
+  options.systemd.user.tmpfiles.rules = lib.mkOption {
+    type = lib.types.listOf lib.types.str;
+    default = [ ];
+    example = [ "L /home/user/Documents - - - - /mnt/data/Documents" ];
     description = ''
-      Declare systemd-tmpfiles rules to create, delete, and clean up volatile
-      and temporary files and directories.
-
-      Even though the service is called `*tmp*files` you can also create
-      persistent files.
+      Rules for creating and cleaning up temporary files
+      automatically. See
+      {manpage}`tmpfiles.d(5)`
+      for the exact format.
     '';
-    example = {
-      cache.rules."%C".d = {
-        mode = "0755";
-        user = "alice";
-        group = "alice";
-        age = "4 weeks";
-      };
-    };
-    default = { };
-    type = attrsWith' "config-name" configSubmodule;
   };
 
-  config = lib.mkMerge [
+  config = lib.mkIf (cfg.rules != [ ]) {
+    assertions = [
+      (lib.hm.assertions.assertPlatform "systemd.user.tmpfiles" pkgs lib.platforms.linux)
+    ];
 
-    (lib.mkIf pkgs.stdenv.hostPlatform.isLinux {
-      # The activation script must be enabled unconditionally in order to
-      # guarantee that the old rules are purged even if the new set of rules
-      # is empty, i.e. `cfg.rulesToPurgeOnChange == [ ]`.
-      home.activation.purgeTmpfiles = lib.hm.dag.entryAfter [ "writeBoundary" ] (
-        let
-          relativeXdgConfigHome = lib.strings.removePrefix "${config.home.homeDirectory}/" config.xdg.configHome;
-          configPath = "home-files/${relativeXdgConfigHome}/${purgedRulesConfigName}";
-        in
-        ''
-          if [[ -v oldGenPath && -f $oldGenPath/${configPath} ]] &&
-              diff -q $oldGenPath/${configPath} $newGenPath/${configPath} &>/dev/null; then
-            verboseEcho "Purge old tmpfiles"
-            run ${pkgs.systemd}/bin/systemd-tmpfiles --user --purge ''${DRY_RUN:+--dry-run} $oldGenPath/${configPath}
-          fi
-        ''
-      );
-    })
-
-    (lib.mkIf (cfg.settings != { }) {
-      assertions = [
-        (lib.hm.assertions.assertPlatform "systemd.user.tmpfiles" pkgs lib.platforms.linux)
-      ];
-
-      warnings = lib.flatten (
-        lib.mapAttrsToListRecursive (
-          path: value:
-          lib.optional
-            (lib.last path == "argument" && lib.match ''.*\\([nrt]|x[0-9A-Fa-f]{2}).*'' value != null)
-            ''
-              The '${lib.showAttrPath (modulePrefix ++ path)}' option
-              appears to contain escape sequences, which will be escaped again.
-              Unescape them if this is not intended. The assigned string is:
-                "${value}"
-            ''
-        ) cfg.settings
-      );
-
-      xdg.configFile = {
-        "systemd/user/basic.target.wants/systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service".source =
-          "${pkgs.systemd}/example/systemd/user/systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service";
-        "systemd/user/systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service".source =
-          "${pkgs.systemd}/example/systemd/user/systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service";
-        "systemd/user/timers.target.wants/systemd-tmpfiles-clean.timer".source =
-          "${pkgs.systemd}/example/systemd/user/systemd-tmpfiles-clean.timer";
-        "systemd/user/systemd-tmpfiles-clean.service".source =
-          "${pkgs.systemd}/example/systemd/user/systemd-tmpfiles-clean.service";
-      }
-      // lib.mapAttrs' (
-        name: config: lib.nameValuePair (mkFileName name) (mkConfigFile name config.rules { })
-      ) nonPurgedConfigs
-      // lib.optionalAttrs (purgedConfigs != { }) {
-        ${mkFileName purgedRulesConfigName} =
-          let
-            purgedConfigsMerged = lib.foldl' lib.recursiveUpdate { } (lib.attrValues purgedConfigs);
-          in
-          mkConfigFile purgedRulesConfigName purgedConfigsMerged.rules { suffix = [ ]; };
+    xdg.configFile = {
+      "user-tmpfiles.d/home-manager.conf" = {
+        text = ''
+          # This file is created automatically and should not be modified.
+          # Please change the option ‘systemd.user.tmpfiles.rules’ instead.
+          ${lib.concatStringsSep "\n" cfg.rules}
+        '';
+        onChange = ''
+          run ${pkgs.systemd}/bin/systemd-tmpfiles --user --remove --create ''${DRY_RUN:+--dry-run}
+        '';
       };
-    })
-
-  ];
+      "systemd/user/basic.target.wants/systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service".source =
+        "${pkgs.systemd}/example/systemd/user/systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service";
+      "systemd/user/systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service".source =
+        "${pkgs.systemd}/example/systemd/user/systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service";
+      "systemd/user/timers.target.wants/systemd-tmpfiles-clean.timer".source =
+        "${pkgs.systemd}/example/systemd/user/systemd-tmpfiles-clean.timer";
+      "systemd/user/systemd-tmpfiles-clean.service".source =
+        "${pkgs.systemd}/example/systemd/user/systemd-tmpfiles-clean.service";
+    };
+  };
 }
diff --git a/modules/programs/glab.nix b/modules/programs/glab.nix
index 84d1817ea..525456dc4 100644
--- a/modules/programs/glab.nix
+++ b/modules/programs/glab.nix
@@ -36,12 +36,14 @@ in
 
     # Use `systemd-tmpfiles` since glab requires its configuration file to have
     # mode 0600.
-    systemd.user.tmpfiles.settings.glab = lib.mkIf (cfg.settings != { }) {
-      rules."${config.xdg.configHome}/glab-cli/config.yml" = {
-        "C+$".argument = "${yaml.generate "glab-config" cfg.settings}";
-        z.mode = "0600";
-      };
-    };
+    systemd.user.tmpfiles.rules =
+      let
+        target = "${config.xdg.configHome}/glab-cli/config.yml";
+      in
+      lib.mkIf (cfg.settings != { }) [
+        "C+ ${target} - - - - ${yaml.generate "glab-config" cfg.settings}"
+        "z  ${target} 0600"
+      ];
 
     xdg.configFile."glab-cli/aliases.yml" = lib.mkIf (cfg.aliases != { }) {
       source = yaml.generate "glab-aliases" cfg.aliases;
diff --git a/tests/default.nix b/tests/default.nix
index 735e1f246..88ff40ece 100644
--- a/tests/default.nix
+++ b/tests/default.nix
@@ -203,7 +203,6 @@ import nmtSrc {
           ./modules/misc/numlock
           ./modules/misc/pam
           ./modules/misc/qt
-          ./modules/misc/tmpfiles
           ./modules/misc/xdg/linux.nix
           ./modules/misc/xsession
           ./modules/systemd
diff --git a/tests/integration/standalone/rclone/sops-nix.nix b/tests/integration/standalone/rclone/sops-nix.nix
index fc676505e..71283edf5 100644
--- a/tests/integration/standalone/rclone/sops-nix.nix
+++ b/tests/integration/standalone/rclone/sops-nix.nix
@@ -28,12 +28,9 @@ in
       uid = 1000;
     };
 
-    systemd.tmpfiles.settings.age.rules."/home/alice/age-key".f = {
-      mode = "400";
-      user = "alice";
-      group = "users";
-      argument = ageKey;
-    };
+    systemd.tmpfiles.rules = [
+      "f /home/alice/age-key 400 alice users - ${ageKey}"
+    ];
 
     home-manager.users.alice =
       { config, ... }:
diff --git a/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/basic-rules.nix b/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/basic-rules.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index 68b00f87b..000000000
--- a/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/basic-rules.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,26 +0,0 @@
-{
-  imports = [ ./common-stubs.nix ];
-
-  systemd.user.tmpfiles.settings = {
-    cache.rules."%C".d.age = "4 weeks";
-    myTool.rules."%h/.config/myTool.conf"."f+" = {
-      mode = "0644";
-      user = "alice";
-      group = "users";
-      argument = "my unescaped config";
-    };
-  };
-
-  nmt.script = ''
-    assertPathNotExists home-files/.config/user-tmpfiles.d/home-manager-purge-on-change.conf
-
-    cacheRulesFile=home-files/.config/user-tmpfiles.d/home-manager-cache.conf
-    assertFileExists $cacheRulesFile
-    assertFileRegex $cacheRulesFile "^'d' '%C' '-' '-' '-' '4 weeks' $"
-
-    myToolRulesFile=home-files/.config/user-tmpfiles.d/home-manager-myTool.conf
-    assertFileExists $myToolRulesFile
-    assertFileRegex $myToolRulesFile \
-      "^'f+' '%h/.config/myTool.conf' '0644' 'alice' 'users' '-' my\\\\x20unescaped\\\\x20config$"
-  '';
-}
diff --git a/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/common-stubs.nix b/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/common-stubs.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index abc4c732d..000000000
--- a/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/common-stubs.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-{
-  test.stubs.systemd.outPath = null;
-}
diff --git a/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/default.nix b/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/default.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index 608796fe9..000000000
--- a/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/default.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,7 +0,0 @@
-{
-  tmpfiles-no-rules = ./no-rules.nix;
-  tmpfiles-basic-rules = ./basic-rules.nix;
-  tmpfiles-rules-with-purging = ./rules-with-purging.nix;
-
-  tmpfiles-escaped-argument-warning = ./escaped-argument-warning.nix;
-}
diff --git a/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/escaped-argument-warning.nix b/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/escaped-argument-warning.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index 0a7441b7e..000000000
--- a/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/escaped-argument-warning.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,14 +0,0 @@
-{
-  imports = [ ./common-stubs.nix ];
-
-  systemd.user.tmpfiles.settings.foo.rules.path.f.argument = "my\\x20unescaped\\x20config";
-
-  test.asserts.warnings.expected = [
-    ''
-      The 'systemd.user.tmpfiles.settings.foo.rules.path.f.argument' option
-      appears to contain escape sequences, which will be escaped again.
-      Unescape them if this is not intended. The assigned string is:
-        "my\x20unescaped\x20config"
-    ''
-  ];
-}
diff --git a/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/no-rules.nix b/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/no-rules.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index 8c8f0e77e..000000000
--- a/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/no-rules.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-{
-  imports = [ ./common-stubs.nix ];
-
-  systemd.user.tmpfiles.settings = { };
-
-  nmt.script = ''
-    assertPathNotExists home-files/.config/user-tmpfiles.d/
-  '';
-}
diff --git a/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/rules-with-purging.nix b/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/rules-with-purging.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index a453bfcb6..000000000
--- a/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/rules-with-purging.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,28 +0,0 @@
-{
-  imports = [ ./common-stubs.nix ];
-
-  systemd.user.tmpfiles.settings = {
-    cache.rules."%C".d.age = "4 weeks";
-    myTool = {
-      rules = {
-        "%h/.config/myTool.conf"."f+".argument = "my_config";
-        "%h/.config/myToolPurged.conf"."f+$".argument = "my_config_purged";
-      };
-      purgeOnChange = true;
-    };
-  };
-
-  nmt.script = ''
-    cacheRulesFile=home-files/.config/user-tmpfiles.d/home-manager-cache.conf
-    assertFileExists $cacheRulesFile
-    assertFileRegex $cacheRulesFile "^'d' '%C' '-' '-' '-' '4 weeks' $"
-
-    assertPathNotExists home-files/.config/user-tmpfiles.d/home-manager-myTool.conf
-    myToolRulesFile=home-files/.config/user-tmpfiles.d/home-manager-purge-on-change.conf
-    assertFileExists $myToolRulesFile
-    assertFileRegex $myToolRulesFile \
-      "^'f+' '%h/.config/myTool.conf' '-' '-' '-' '-' my_config$"
-    assertFileRegex $myToolRulesFile \
-      "^'f+$' '%h/.config/myToolPurged.conf' '-' '-' '-' '-' my_config_purged$"
-  '';
-}