diff --git a/nixos/modules/system/boot/loader/grub/install-grub.pl b/nixos/modules/system/boot/loader/grub/install-grub.pl
index 0c93b288..d26d630a 100644
# For systems with BIOS boot, allow specifying the grub device by partition (e.g. by partlabel).
--- a/nixos/modules/system/boot/loader/grub/install-grub.pl
+++ b/nixos/modules/system/boot/loader/grub/install-grub.pl
@@ -725,6 +725,8 @@ symlink "$bootPath", "$tmpDir/boot" or die "Failed to symlink $tmpDir/boot: $!";
 if (($requireNewInstall != 0) && ($efiTarget eq "no" || $efiTarget eq "both")) {
     foreach my $dev (@deviceTargets) {
         next if $dev eq "nodev";
+        my $realpath = qx{realpath $dev};
+        if ($realpath =~ m;^/dev/(sd[a-z](?=\d+\s$)|\w+\d+(?=p\d+\s$));) { $dev = "/dev/$1"; }
         print STDERR "installing the GRUB $grubVersion boot loader on $dev...\n";
         my @command = ("$grub/sbin/grub-install", "--recheck", "--root-directory=$tmpDir", Cwd::abs_path($dev), @extraGrubInstallArgs);
         if ($forceInstall eq "true") {