diff --git a/modules/programs/nushell.nix b/modules/programs/nushell.nix
index b69ec88f0..6586d1e1a 100644
--- a/modules/programs/nushell.nix
+++ b/modules/programs/nushell.nix
@@ -145,11 +145,24 @@ in {
     };
 
     environmentVariables = mkOption {
-      type = types.attrsOf types.str;
+      type = types.attrsOf hm.types.nushellValue;
       default = { };
-      example = { FOO = "BAR"; };
+      example = literalExpression ''
+        {
+          FOO = "BAR";
+          LIST_VALUE = [ "foo" "bar" ];
+          NU_LIB_DIRS = lib.concatStringsSep ":" [ ./scripts ];
+          PROMPT_COMMAND = lib.hm.nushell.mkNushellInline '''{|| "> "}''';
+          ENV_CONVERSIONS.PATH = {
+            from_string = lib.hm.nushell.mkNushellInline "{|s| $s | split row (char esep) }";
+            to_string = lib.hm.nushell.mkNushellInline "{|v| $v | str join (char esep) }";
+          };
+        }
+      '';
       description = ''
-        An attribute set that maps an environment variable to a shell interpreted string.
+        Environment variables to be set.
+
+        Inline values can be set with `lib.hm.nushell.mkNushellInline`.
       '';
     };
   };
@@ -173,9 +186,11 @@ in {
       })
 
       (let
-        envVarsStr = concatStringsSep "\n"
-          (mapAttrsToList (k: v: "$env.${k} = ${v}") cfg.environmentVariables);
-      in mkIf (cfg.envFile != null || cfg.extraEnv != "" || envVarsStr != "") {
+        hasEnvVars = cfg.environmentVariables != { };
+        envVarsStr = ''
+          load-env ${hm.nushell.toNushell { } cfg.environmentVariables}
+        '';
+      in mkIf (cfg.envFile != null || cfg.extraEnv != "" || hasEnvVars) {
         "${configDir}/env.nu".text = mkMerge [
           (mkIf (cfg.envFile != null) cfg.envFile.text)
           cfg.extraEnv
diff --git a/tests/modules/programs/nushell/env-expected.nu b/tests/modules/programs/nushell/env-expected.nu
index 07105fc54..50f6f767b 100644
--- a/tests/modules/programs/nushell/env-expected.nu
+++ b/tests/modules/programs/nushell/env-expected.nu
@@ -1,4 +1,17 @@
 $env.FOO = 'BAR'
 
 
-$env.BAR = $'(echo BAZ)'
\ No newline at end of file
+load-env {
+    "ENV_CONVERSIONS": {
+        "PATH": {
+            "from_string": ({|s| $s | split row (char esep) })
+            "to_string": ({|v| $v | str join (char esep) })
+        }
+    }
+    "FOO": "BAR"
+    "LIST_VALUE": [
+        "foo"
+        "bar"
+    ]
+    "PROMPT_COMMAND": ({|| "> "})
+}
diff --git a/tests/modules/programs/nushell/example-settings.nix b/tests/modules/programs/nushell/example-settings.nix
index d870eb9db..4fc1402a4 100644
--- a/tests/modules/programs/nushell/example-settings.nix
+++ b/tests/modules/programs/nushell/example-settings.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ pkgs, config, ... }:
+{ pkgs, config, lib, ... }:
 
 {
   programs.nushell = {
@@ -28,7 +28,17 @@
       "ll" = "ls -a";
     };
 
-    environmentVariables = { BAR = "$'(echo BAZ)'"; };
+    environmentVariables = {
+      FOO = "BAR";
+      LIST_VALUE = [ "foo" "bar" ];
+      PROMPT_COMMAND = lib.hm.nushell.mkNushellInline ''{|| "> "}'';
+      ENV_CONVERSIONS.PATH = {
+        from_string =
+          lib.hm.nushell.mkNushellInline "{|s| $s | split row (char esep) }";
+        to_string =
+          lib.hm.nushell.mkNushellInline "{|v| $v | str join (char esep) }";
+      };
+    };
   };
 
   test.stubs.nushell = { };