diff --git a/home/flake.nix b/home/flake.nix
index 6278b65..c47a39f 100644
--- a/home/flake.nix
+++ b/home/flake.nix
@@ -11,9 +11,11 @@
     };
   };
 
-  outputs = inputs@{ self, nixpkgs, home-manager, nur }:
+  outputs = { self, nixpkgs, home-manager, nur }:
     let
-      priv = import ./private.nix inputs;
+      # IRL-related private config
+      priv = if builtins.pathExists ./private.nix then (import ./private.nix) else {};
+      getPriv = (hostname: with builtins; if hasAttr hostname priv then (getAttr hostname priv) else {});
     in {
       homeConfigurations = {
         "user@nixmsi" = home-manager.lib.homeManagerConfiguration {
@@ -21,8 +23,7 @@
           modules = [
             nur.nixosModules.nur
             ./hosts/nixmsi.nix
-            # IRL-related private config
-            priv.nixmsi
+            (getPriv "nixmsi")
           ];
         };
       };
diff --git a/home/hosts/nixmsi.nix b/home/hosts/nixmsi.nix
index 7c93ea9..474f39f 100644
--- a/home/hosts/nixmsi.nix
+++ b/home/hosts/nixmsi.nix
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
     protontricks proton-caller
     bottles
     gimp krita blender
+    tdesktop
     # waiting until the PR gets merged
     (looking-glass-client.overrideAttrs (old: {
       version = "B6";
diff --git a/home/private.nix b/home/private.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index 656d658..0000000
--- a/home/private.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
-{ ... }:
-{
-  nixmsi = {
-    # insert config here
-  };
-}
diff --git a/home/private.nix.sample b/home/private.nix.sample
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d79f062
--- /dev/null
+++ b/home/private.nix.sample
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+{
+  nixmsi = { pkgs, ... }: {
+    # insert private config here
+  };
+}
diff --git a/system/flake.nix b/system/flake.nix
index 5f2fc28..4839648 100644
--- a/system/flake.nix
+++ b/system/flake.nix
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@
   let
     hw = nixos-hardware.nixosModules;
     # IRL-related stuff I'd rather not put into git
-    priv = import ./private.nix inputs;
+    priv = if builtins.fileExists ./private.nix then (import ./private.nix inputs) else {};
+    getPriv = (hostname: with builtins; if hasAttr hostname priv then getAttr hostname priv else {});
   in utils.lib.mkFlake {
     inherit self inputs;
     hostDefaults.modules = [
@@ -29,13 +30,13 @@
       nixmsi = {
         system = "x86_64-linux";
         modules = [
-          priv.nixmsi
           ./hosts/nixmsi.nix
           hw.common-pc-ssd # enables fstrim
           hw.common-cpu-amd # microcode
           hw.common-cpu-amd-pstate # amd-pstate
           hw.common-gpu-amd # configures drivers
           hw.common-pc-laptop # enables tlp
+          (getPriv "nixmsi")
         ];
       };
     };
diff --git a/system/private.nix b/system/private.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index 656d658..0000000
--- a/system/private.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
-{ ... }:
-{
-  nixmsi = {
-    # insert config here
-  };
-}
diff --git a/system/private.nix.sample b/system/private.nix.sample
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..498b965
--- /dev/null
+++ b/system/private.nix.sample
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+{
+  nixmsi = { ... }: {
+    # insert private config here
+  };
+}