diff --git a/src/nix/repl.cc b/src/nix/repl.cc
index 3a70a23c7..0fa1594cc 100644
--- a/src/nix/repl.cc
+++ b/src/nix/repl.cc
@@ -778,6 +778,7 @@ struct CmdRepl : StoreCommand, MixEvalArgs
 
     void run(ref<Store> store) override
     {
+        evalSettings.pureEval = false;
         auto repl = std::make_unique<NixRepl>(searchPath, openStore());
         repl->autoArgs = getAutoArgs(repl->state);
         repl->mainLoop(files);