diff --git a/nix/modules/hive-ci.nix b/nix/modules/hive-ci.nix
index 9349c1ca..32d6f4ca 100644
--- a/nix/modules/hive-ci.nix
+++ b/nix/modules/hive-ci.nix
@@ -178,6 +178,9 @@ in
             "flakes"
           ];
 
+          # package is top-level on gitea-actions-runner, not per-instance.
+          services.gitea-actions-runner.package = cfg.package;
+
           services.gitea-actions-runner.instances.hive = {
             enable = true;
             name = cfg.name;
@@ -192,7 +195,6 @@ in
               # Generous timeout for cold-cache nix builds.
               runner.timeout = "3h";
             };
-            package = cfg.package;
           };
 
           # Prepend auto-register script before the runner service starts.