diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2311.section.md b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2311.section.md
index 38b2078407eda..09ba2c22f932f 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2311.section.md
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2311.section.md
@@ -451,6 +451,10 @@
 
 - A new option was added to the virtualisation module that enables specifying explicitly named network interfaces in QEMU VMs. The existing `virtualisation.vlans` is still supported for cases where the name of the network interface is irrelevant.
 
+- Apptainer/Singularity now defaults to using `"$out/var/lib"` for the `LOCALSTATEDIR` configuration option instead of the top-level `"/var/lib"`. This change impacts the `SESSIONDIR` (container-run-time mount point) configuration, which is set to `$LOCALSTATEDIR/<apptainer or singularity>/mnt/session`. This detaches the packages from the top-level directory, rendering the NixOS module optional.
+
+  The default behavior of the NixOS module `programs.singularity` stays unchanged. We add a new option `programs.singularity.enableExternalSysConfDir` (default to `true`) to specify whether to set the top-level `"/var/lib"` as `LOCALSTATEDIR` or not.
+
 - DocBook option documentation is no longer supported, all module documentation now uses markdown.
 
 - `services.outline` can now be configured to use local filesystem storage instead of S3 storage using [services.outline.storage.storageType](#opt-services.outline.storage.storageType).
diff --git a/nixos/modules/programs/singularity.nix b/nixos/modules/programs/singularity.nix
index 05fdb4842c543..79695b29becae 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/programs/singularity.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/programs/singularity.nix
@@ -45,6 +45,18 @@ in
         Use `lib.mkForce` to forcefully specify the overridden package.
       '';
     };
+    enableExternalLocalStateDir = mkOption {
+      type = types.bool;
+      default = true;
+      example = false;
+      description = mdDoc ''
+        Whether to use top-level directories as LOCALSTATEDIR
+        instead of the store path ones.
+        This affects the SESSIONDIR of Apptainer/Singularity.
+        If set to true, the SESSIONDIR will become
+        `/var/lib/''${projectName}/mnt/session`.
+      '';
+    };
     enableFakeroot = mkOption {
       type = types.bool;
       default = true;
@@ -65,7 +77,9 @@ in
 
   config = mkIf cfg.enable {
     programs.singularity.packageOverriden = (cfg.package.override (
-      optionalAttrs cfg.enableFakeroot {
+      optionalAttrs cfg.enableExternalLocalStateDir {
+        externalLocalStateDir = "/var/lib";
+      } // optionalAttrs cfg.enableFakeroot {
         newuidmapPath = "/run/wrappers/bin/newuidmap";
         newgidmapPath = "/run/wrappers/bin/newgidmap";
       } // optionalAttrs cfg.enableSuid {
@@ -80,12 +94,8 @@ in
       group = "root";
       source = "${cfg.packageOverriden}/libexec/${cfg.packageOverriden.projectName}/bin/starter-suid.orig";
     };
-    systemd.tmpfiles.rules = [
+    systemd.tmpfiles.rules = mkIf cfg.enableExternalLocalStateDir [
       "d /var/lib/${cfg.packageOverriden.projectName}/mnt/session 0770 root root -"
-      "d /var/lib/${cfg.packageOverriden.projectName}/mnt/final 0770 root root -"
-      "d /var/lib/${cfg.packageOverriden.projectName}/mnt/overlay 0770 root root -"
-      "d /var/lib/${cfg.packageOverriden.projectName}/mnt/container 0770 root root -"
-      "d /var/lib/${cfg.packageOverriden.projectName}/mnt/source 0770 root root -"
     ];
   };
 
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/virtualization/singularity/generic.nix b/pkgs/applications/virtualization/singularity/generic.nix
index 3b110d9bc9916..9f17dc8eb03d7 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/virtualization/singularity/generic.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/virtualization/singularity/generic.nix
@@ -71,6 +71,8 @@ in
 , newuidmapPath ? null
   # Path to SUID-ed newgidmap executable
 , newgidmapPath ? null
+  # External LOCALSTATEDIR
+, externalLocalStateDir ? null
   # Remove the symlinks to `singularity*` when projectName != "singularity"
 , removeCompat ? false
   # Workaround #86349
@@ -106,6 +108,7 @@ in
     inherit
       enableSeccomp
       enableSuid
+      externalLocalStateDir
       projectName
       removeCompat
       starterSuidPath
@@ -141,7 +144,7 @@ in
   configureScript = "./mconfig";
 
   configureFlags = [
-    "--localstatedir=/var/lib"
+    "--localstatedir=${if externalLocalStateDir != null then externalLocalStateDir else "${placeholder "out"}/var/lib"}"
     "--runstatedir=/var/run"
   ]
   ++ lib.optional (!enableSeccomp) "--without-seccomp"
diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/singularity-tools/default.nix b/pkgs/build-support/singularity-tools/default.nix
index 9689e41245909..8d7ad9e742a1a 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/singularity-tools/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/singularity-tools/default.nix
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ rec {
             touch .${projectName}.d/env/94-appsbase.sh
 
             cd ..
-            mkdir -p /var/lib/${projectName}/mnt/{container,final,overlay,session,source}
+            mkdir -p /var/lib/${projectName}/mnt/session
             echo "root:x:0:0:System administrator:/root:/bin/sh" > /etc/passwd
             echo > /etc/resolv.conf
             TMPDIR=$(pwd -P) ${projectName} build $out ./img