diff --git a/modules/programs/tmux.nix b/modules/programs/tmux.nix
index a71c302ac..e28145da1 100644
--- a/modules/programs/tmux.nix
+++ b/modules/programs/tmux.nix
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ let
   defaultResize   = 5;
   defaultShortcut = "b";
   defaultTerminal = "screen";
+  defaultShell    = null;
 
   boolToStr = value: if value then "on" else "off";
 
@@ -41,7 +42,10 @@ let
     set  -g default-terminal "${cfg.terminal}"
     set  -g base-index      ${toString cfg.baseIndex}
     setw -g pane-base-index ${toString cfg.baseIndex}
-
+    ${optionalString (cfg.shell != null) ''
+      # We need to set default-shell before calling new-session
+      set  -g default-shell "${cfg.shell}"
+    ''}
     ${optionalString cfg.newSession "new-session"}
 
     ${optionalString cfg.reverseSplit ''
@@ -250,6 +254,13 @@ in
         description = "Set the $TERM variable.";
       };
 
+      shell = mkOption {
+        default = defaultShell;
+        example = "\${pkgs.zsh}/bin/zsh";
+        type = with types; nullOr str;
+        description = "Set the default-shell tmux variable.";
+      };
+
       secureSocket = mkOption {
         default = pkgs.stdenv.isLinux;
         type = types.bool;
diff --git a/tests/modules/programs/tmux/default-shell.conf b/tests/modules/programs/tmux/default-shell.conf
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a33623630
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/modules/programs/tmux/default-shell.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+# ============================================= #
+# Start with defaults from the Sensible plugin  #
+# --------------------------------------------- #
+run-shell @sensible_rtp@
+# ============================================= #
+
+set  -g default-terminal "screen"
+set  -g base-index      0
+setw -g pane-base-index 0
+# We need to set default-shell before calling new-session
+set  -g default-shell "/usr/bin/myshell"
+
+
+
+
+
+set -g status-keys emacs
+set -g mode-keys   emacs
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+setw -g aggressive-resize off
+setw -g clock-mode-style  12
+set  -s escape-time       500
+set  -g history-limit     2000
+
diff --git a/tests/modules/programs/tmux/default-shell.nix b/tests/modules/programs/tmux/default-shell.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..05091c6ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/modules/programs/tmux/default-shell.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+{ config, lib, pkgs, ... }:
+
+with lib;
+
+let
+
+  substituteExpected = path:
+    pkgs.substituteAll {
+      src = path;
+
+      sensible_rtp = pkgs.tmuxPlugins.sensible.rtp;
+    };
+
+in {
+  config = {
+    programs.tmux = {
+      enable = true;
+      shell = "/usr/bin/myshell";
+    };
+
+    nmt.script = ''
+      assertFileExists home-files/.tmux.conf
+      assertFileContent home-files/.tmux.conf \
+        ${substituteExpected ./default-shell.conf}
+    '';
+  };
+}
diff --git a/tests/modules/programs/tmux/default.nix b/tests/modules/programs/tmux/default.nix
index d4501c609..f0a997b7e 100644
--- a/tests/modules/programs/tmux/default.nix
+++ b/tests/modules/programs/tmux/default.nix
@@ -4,4 +4,5 @@
   tmux-vi-all-true = ./vi-all-true.nix;
   tmux-secure-socket-enabled = ./secure-socket-enabled.nix;
   tmux-disable-confirmation-prompt = ./disable-confirmation-prompt.nix;
+  tmux-default-shell = ./default-shell.nix;
 }