diff --git a/nixos/tests/web-servers/unit-php.nix b/nixos/tests/web-servers/unit-php.nix
index 5bef7fab3eff..f0df371945e5 100644
--- a/nixos/tests/web-servers/unit-php.nix
+++ b/nixos/tests/web-servers/unit-php.nix
@@ -10,15 +10,15 @@ in {
     services.unit = {
       enable = true;
       config = pkgs.lib.strings.toJSON {
-        listeners."*:9080".application = "php_80";
-        applications.php_80 = {
-          type = "php 8.0";
+        listeners."*:9081".application = "php_81";
+        applications.php_81 = {
+          type = "php 8.1";
           processes = 1;
           user = "testuser";
           group = "testgroup";
           root = "${testdir}/www";
           index = "info.php";
-          options.file = "${pkgs.unit.usedPhp80}/lib/php.ini";
+          options.file = "${pkgs.unit.usedPhp81}/lib/php.ini";
         };
       };
     };
@@ -34,14 +34,19 @@ in {
     };
   };
   testScript = ''
+    machine.start()
+
     machine.wait_for_unit("unit.service")
+    machine.wait_for_open_port(9081)
 
     # Check so we get an evaluated PHP back
-    response = machine.succeed("curl -f -vvv -s http://127.0.0.1:9080/")
-    assert "PHP Version ${pkgs.unit.usedPhp80.version}" in response, "PHP version not detected"
+    response = machine.succeed("curl -f -vvv -s http://127.0.0.1:9081/")
+    assert "PHP Version ${pkgs.unit.usedPhp81.version}" in response, "PHP version not detected"
 
     # Check so we have database and some other extensions loaded
     for ext in ["json", "opcache", "pdo_mysql", "pdo_pgsql", "pdo_sqlite"]:
         assert ext in response, f"Missing {ext} extension"
+
+    machine.shutdown()
   '';
 })
diff --git a/pkgs/servers/http/unit/default.nix b/pkgs/servers/http/unit/default.nix
index 139cdede3861..fd66f3a83c7d 100644
--- a/pkgs/servers/http/unit/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/servers/http/unit/default.nix
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 { lib, stdenv, fetchFromGitHub, nixosTests, which
 , pcre2
 , withPython3 ? true, python3, ncurses
-, withPHP80 ? true, php80
+, withPHP80 ? false, php80
+, withPHP81 ? true, php81
 , withPerl532 ? false, perl532
 , withPerl534 ? true, perl534
 , withPerldevel ? false, perldevel
@@ -24,6 +25,7 @@ let
   };
 
   php80-unit = php80.override phpConfig;
+  php81-unit = php81.override phpConfig;
 
 in stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   version = "1.27.0";
@@ -41,6 +43,7 @@ in stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   buildInputs = [ pcre2.dev ]
     ++ optionals withPython3 [ python3 ncurses ]
     ++ optional withPHP80 php80-unit
+    ++ optional withPHP81 php81-unit
     ++ optional withPerl532 perl532
     ++ optional withPerl534 perl534
     ++ optional withPerldevel perldevel
@@ -58,10 +61,12 @@ in stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   # Optionally add the PHP derivations used so they can be addressed in the configs
   usedPhp80 = optionals withPHP80 php80-unit;
+  usedPhp81 = optionals withPHP81 php81-unit;
 
   postConfigure = ''
     ${optionalString withPython3    "./configure python --module=python3  --config=python3-config  --lib-path=${python3}/lib"}
     ${optionalString withPHP80      "./configure php    --module=php80    --config=${php80-unit.unwrapped.dev}/bin/php-config --lib-path=${php80-unit}/lib"}
+    ${optionalString withPHP81      "./configure php    --module=php81    --config=${php81-unit.unwrapped.dev}/bin/php-config --lib-path=${php81-unit}/lib"}
     ${optionalString withPerl532    "./configure perl   --module=perl532  --perl=${perl532}/bin/perl"}
     ${optionalString withPerl534    "./configure perl   --module=perl534  --perl=${perl534}/bin/perl"}
     ${optionalString withPerldevel  "./configure perl   --module=perldev  --perl=${perldevel}/bin/perl"}