diff --git a/src/libcmd/compatibility-settings.hh b/src/libcmd/compatibility-settings.hh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5dc0eaf2b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/libcmd/compatibility-settings.hh
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+#pragma once
+#include "config.hh"
+
+namespace nix {
+struct CompatibilitySettings : public Config
+{
+
+    CompatibilitySettings() = default;
+
+    Setting<bool> nixShellAlwaysLooksForShellNix{this, true, "nix-shell-always-looks-for-shell-nix", R"(
+        Before Nix 2.24, [`nix-shell`](@docroot@/command-ref/nix-shell.md) would only look at `shell.nix` if it was in the working directory - when no file was specified.
+
+        Since Nix 2.24, `nix-shell` always looks for a `shell.nix`, whether that's in the working directory, or in a directory that was passed as an argument.
+
+        You may set this to `false` to revert to the Nix 2.3 behavior.
+    )"};
+};
+
+};