diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2405.section.md b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2405.section.md
index c075149a0e5d..724307c0940a 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2405.section.md
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2405.section.md
@@ -124,6 +124,10 @@ The pre-existing [services.ankisyncd](#opt-services.ankisyncd.enable) has been m
 - `security.pam.enableSSHAgentAuth` now requires `services.openssh.authorizedKeysFiles` to be non-empty,
   which is the case when `services.openssh.enable` is true. Previously, `pam_ssh_agent_auth` silently failed to work.
 
+- The configuration format for `services.prometheus.exporters.snmp` changed with release 0.23.0.
+  The module now includes an optional config check, that is enabled by default, to make the change obvious before any deployment.
+  More information about the configuration syntax change is available in the [upstream repository](https://github.com/prometheus/snmp_exporter/blob/b75fc6b839ee3f3ccbee68bee55f1ae99555084a/auth-split-migration.md).
+
 ## Other Notable Changes {#sec-release-24.05-notable-changes}
 
 <!-- To avoid merge conflicts, consider adding your item at an arbitrary place in the list instead. -->
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/monitoring/prometheus/exporters/snmp.nix b/nixos/modules/services/monitoring/prometheus/exporters/snmp.nix
index ad4723d28405..840ce493ee81 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/monitoring/prometheus/exporters/snmp.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/monitoring/prometheus/exporters/snmp.nix
@@ -4,6 +4,25 @@ with lib;
 
 let
   cfg = config.services.prometheus.exporters.snmp;
+
+  # This ensures that we can deal with string paths, path types and
+  # store-path strings with context.
+  coerceConfigFile = file:
+    if (builtins.isPath file) || (lib.isStorePath file) then
+      file
+    else
+      (lib.warn ''
+        ${logPrefix}: configuration file "${file}" is being copied to the nix-store.
+        If you would like to avoid that, please set enableConfigCheck to false.
+        '' /. + file);
+
+  checkConfig = file:
+    pkgs.runCommandLocal "checked-snmp-exporter-config.yml" {
+      nativeBuildInputs = [ pkgs.buildPackages.prometheus-snmp-exporter ];
+    } ''
+      ln -s ${coerceConfigFile file} $out
+      snmp_exporter --dry-run --config.file $out
+    '';
 in
 {
   port = 9116;
@@ -31,6 +50,16 @@ in
       };
     };
 
+    enableConfigCheck = mkOption {
+      type = types.bool;
+      default = true;
+      description = lib.mdDoc ''
+        Whether to run a correctness check for the configuration file. This depends
+        on the configuration file residing in the nix-store. Paths passed as string will
+        be copied to the store.
+      '';
+    };
+
     logFormat = mkOption {
       type = types.enum ["logfmt" "json"];
       default = "logfmt";
@@ -48,9 +77,13 @@ in
     };
   };
   serviceOpts = let
-    configFile = if cfg.configurationPath != null
-                 then cfg.configurationPath
-                 else "${pkgs.writeText "snmp-exporter-conf.yml" (builtins.toJSON cfg.configuration)}";
+    uncheckedConfigFile = if cfg.configurationPath != null
+                          then cfg.configurationPath
+                          else "${pkgs.writeText "snmp-exporter-conf.yml" (builtins.toJSON cfg.configuration)}";
+    configFile = if cfg.enableConfigCheck then
+      checkConfig uncheckedConfigFile
+    else
+      uncheckedConfigFile;
     in {
     serviceConfig = {
       ExecStart = ''