diff --git a/tests/nixos/fetch-git/testsupport/gitea-repo.nix b/tests/nixos/fetch-git/testsupport/gitea-repo.nix
index 916552bb2..a3ad65ca4 100644
--- a/tests/nixos/fetch-git/testsupport/gitea-repo.nix
+++ b/tests/nixos/fetch-git/testsupport/gitea-repo.nix
@@ -1,11 +1,31 @@
 { lib, ... }:
 let
-  inherit (lib) mkOption types;
+  inherit (lib)
+    mkIf
+    mkOption
+    types
+    ;
+
+  boolPyLiteral = b: if b then "True" else "False";
 
   testCaseExtension = { config, ... }: {
-    setupScript = ''
-      repo = Repo("${config.name}")
-    '';
+    options = {
+      repo.enable = mkOption {
+        type = types.bool;
+        default = true;
+        description = "Whether to provide a repo variable - automatic repo creation.";
+      };
+      repo.private = mkOption {
+        type = types.bool;
+        default = false;
+        description = "Whether the repo should be private.";
+      };
+    };
+    config = mkIf config.repo.enable {
+      setupScript = ''
+        repo = Repo("${config.name}", private=${boolPyLiteral config.repo.private})
+      '';
+    };
   };
 in
 {
@@ -16,16 +36,20 @@ in
   };
   config = {
     setupScript = ''
+      def boolToJSON(b):
+        return "true" if b else "false"
+
       class Repo:
         """
         A class to create a git repository on the gitea server and locally.
         """
-        def __init__(self, name):
+        def __init__(self, name, private=False):
           self.name = name
           self.path = "/tmp/repos/" + name
           self.remote = "http://gitea:3000/test/" + name
           self.remote_ssh = "ssh://gitea/root/" + name
           self.git = f"git -C {self.path}"
+          self.private = private
           self.create()
 
         def create(self):
@@ -37,7 +61,7 @@ in
           gitea.succeed(f"""
             curl --fail -X POST http://{gitea_admin}:{gitea_admin_password}@gitea:3000/api/v1/user/repos \
               -H 'Accept: application/json' -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-              -d {shlex.quote( f'{{"name":"{self.name}", "default_branch": "main"}}' )}
+              -d {shlex.quote( f'{{"name":"{self.name}", "default_branch": "main", "private": {boolToJSON(self.private)}}}' )}
           """)
           # setup git remotes on client
           client.succeed(f"""