diff --git a/hosts/othalan/system.nix b/hosts/othalan/system.nix
index 2f9a3b7..21bc656 100644
--- a/hosts/othalan/system.nix
+++ b/hosts/othalan/system.nix
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 {
+  lib,
   config,
   pkgs,
   enabled,
   ...
 }:
 {
+  time.timeZone = lib.mkForce null; # allow TZ to be set by desktop user
   networking.networkmanager = enabled;
   services.fwupd = enabled;
   hardware.bluetooth = enabled // {