diff --git a/tests/functional/flakes/debugger.sh b/tests/functional/flakes/debugger.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f75f0ad39ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/functional/flakes/debugger.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+source ./common.sh
+
+requireGit
+
+flakeDir="$TEST_ROOT/flake"
+createGitRepo "$flakeDir"
+
+cat >"$flakeDir/flake.nix" <<EOF
+{
+  inputs = {
+  };
+
+  outputs =
+    _:
+    let
+    in
+    {
+      packages.$system.default = throw "oh no";
+    };
+}
+EOF
+
+git -C "$flakeDir" add flake.nix
+
+# regression #12527 and #11286
+echo ":env" | expect 1 nix eval "$flakeDir#packages.${system}.default" --debugger
diff --git a/tests/functional/flakes/meson.build b/tests/functional/flakes/meson.build
index af7fb304b7a..74ff3d91d80 100644
--- a/tests/functional/flakes/meson.build
+++ b/tests/functional/flakes/meson.build
@@ -28,7 +28,8 @@ suites += {
     'commit-lock-file-summary.sh',
     'non-flake-inputs.sh',
     'relative-paths.sh',
-    'symlink-paths.sh'
+    'symlink-paths.sh',
+    'debugger.sh'
   ],
   'workdir': meson.current_source_dir(),
 }