diff --git a/src/libcmd/command.hh b/src/libcmd/command.hh
index 357785a93d0..9052f44fd10 100644
--- a/src/libcmd/command.hh
+++ b/src/libcmd/command.hh
@@ -94,9 +94,8 @@ struct SourceExprCommand : virtual Args, MixFlakeOptions
 {
     std::optional<Path> file;
     std::optional<std::string> expr;
-    bool readOnlyMode = false;
 
-    SourceExprCommand(bool supportReadOnlyMode = false);
+    SourceExprCommand();
 
     Installables parseInstallables(
         ref<Store> store, std::vector<std::string> ss);
@@ -111,6 +110,11 @@ struct SourceExprCommand : virtual Args, MixFlakeOptions
     void completeInstallable(std::string_view prefix);
 };
 
+struct MixReadOnlyOption : virtual Args
+{
+    MixReadOnlyOption();
+};
+
 /* Like InstallablesCommand but the installables are not loaded */
 struct RawInstallablesCommand : virtual Args, SourceExprCommand
 {
@@ -142,7 +146,7 @@ struct InstallablesCommand : RawInstallablesCommand
 /* A command that operates on exactly one "installable" */
 struct InstallableCommand : virtual Args, SourceExprCommand
 {
-    InstallableCommand(bool supportReadOnlyMode = false);
+    InstallableCommand();
 
     virtual void runI(ref<Store> store, ref<Installable> installable) = 0;
 
diff --git a/src/libcmd/installables.cc b/src/libcmd/installables.cc
index a4555076943..f1ba7ed3c7f 100644
--- a/src/libcmd/installables.cc
+++ b/src/libcmd/installables.cc
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ void MixFlakeOptions::completionHook()
         completeFlakeInput(*prefix);
 }
 
-SourceExprCommand::SourceExprCommand(bool supportReadOnlyMode)
+SourceExprCommand::SourceExprCommand()
 {
     addFlag({
         .longName = "file",
@@ -169,17 +169,18 @@ SourceExprCommand::SourceExprCommand(bool supportReadOnlyMode)
         .labels = {"expr"},
         .handler = {&expr}
     });
+}
 
-    if (supportReadOnlyMode) {
-        addFlag({
-            .longName = "read-only",
-            .description =
-                "Do not instantiate each evaluated derivation. "
-                "This improves performance, but can cause errors when accessing "
-                "store paths of derivations during evaluation.",
-            .handler = {&readOnlyMode, true},
-        });
-    }
+MixReadOnlyOption::MixReadOnlyOption()
+{
+    addFlag({
+        .longName = "read-only",
+        .description =
+            "Do not instantiate each evaluated derivation. "
+            "This improves performance, but can cause errors when accessing "
+            "store paths of derivations during evaluation.",
+        .handler = {&settings.readOnlyMode, true},
+    });
 }
 
 Strings SourceExprCommand::getDefaultFlakeAttrPaths()
@@ -426,10 +427,6 @@ Installables SourceExprCommand::parseInstallables(
 {
     Installables result;
 
-    if (readOnlyMode) {
-        settings.readOnlyMode = true;
-    }
-
     if (file || expr) {
         if (file && expr)
             throw UsageError("'--file' and '--expr' are exclusive");
@@ -733,8 +730,8 @@ std::vector<std::string> InstallablesCommand::getFlakesForCompletion()
     return res;
 }
 
-InstallableCommand::InstallableCommand(bool supportReadOnlyMode)
-    : SourceExprCommand(supportReadOnlyMode)
+InstallableCommand::InstallableCommand()
+    : SourceExprCommand()
 {
     expectArgs({
         .label = "installable",
diff --git a/src/nix/eval.cc b/src/nix/eval.cc
index c0d9ea456c5..421a1c246b2 100644
--- a/src/nix/eval.cc
+++ b/src/nix/eval.cc
@@ -11,13 +11,13 @@
 
 using namespace nix;
 
-struct CmdEval : MixJSON, InstallableCommand
+struct CmdEval : MixJSON, InstallableCommand, MixReadOnlyOption
 {
     bool raw = false;
     std::optional<std::string> apply;
     std::optional<Path> writeTo;
 
-    CmdEval() : InstallableCommand(true /* supportReadOnlyMode */)
+    CmdEval() : InstallableCommand()
     {
         addFlag({
             .longName = "raw",