diff --git a/src/libcmd/repl.cc b/src/libcmd/repl.cc
index 281e1f6f0..38b219643 100644
--- a/src/libcmd/repl.cc
+++ b/src/libcmd/repl.cc
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ std::string removeWhitespace(std::string s)
 
 
 NixRepl::NixRepl(const LookupPath & lookupPath, nix::ref<Store> store, ref<EvalState> state,
-            std::function<NixRepl::AnnotatedValues()> getValues, RunNix * runNix = nullptr)
+            std::function<NixRepl::AnnotatedValues()> getValues, RunNix * runNix)
     : AbstractNixRepl(state)
     , debugTraceIndex(0)
     , getValues(getValues)
@@ -839,9 +839,10 @@ std::unique_ptr<AbstractNixRepl> AbstractNixRepl::create(
 {
     return std::make_unique<NixRepl>(
         lookupPath,
-        openStore(),
+        std::move(store),
         state,
-        getValues
+        getValues,
+        runNix
     );
 }
 
@@ -859,7 +860,8 @@ ReplExitStatus AbstractNixRepl::runSimple(
             lookupPath,
             openStore(),
             evalState,
-            getValues
+            getValues,
+            /*runNix=*/nullptr
         );
 
     repl->initEnv();
diff --git a/tests/functional/repl.sh b/tests/functional/repl.sh
index 59d1f1be0..5d99fbb02 100755
--- a/tests/functional/repl.sh
+++ b/tests/functional/repl.sh
@@ -56,6 +56,10 @@ testRepl () {
     nix repl "${nixArgs[@]}" 2>&1 <<< "builtins.currentSystem" \
       | grep "$(nix-instantiate --eval -E 'builtins.currentSystem')"
 
+    # regression test for #12163
+    replOutput=$(nix repl "${nixArgs[@]}" 2>&1 <<< ":sh import $testDir/simple.nix")
+    echo "$replOutput" | grepInverse "error: Cannot run 'nix-shell'"
+
     expectStderr 1 nix repl "${testDir}/simple.nix" \
       | grepQuiet -s "error: path '$testDir/simple.nix' is not a flake"
 }