diff --git a/modules/lsp/default.nix b/modules/lsp/default.nix
index 1697a7f5..b64720d4 100644
--- a/modules/lsp/default.nix
+++ b/modules/lsp/default.nix
@@ -85,28 +85,12 @@ in
         {
           # `*` is effectively a meta server, where shared config & defaults can be set.
           # It shouldn't have options like `activate` or `package` which relate to "real" servers.
-          # Therefore, we'll use `server-base.nix` directly, instead of the full `server.nix` module.
+          # Therefore, we use a bespoke `global-server.nix`, which is inspired by the full `server.nix` module.
           options."*" = lib.mkOption {
             description = ''
               Global configuration applied to all language servers.
             '';
-            type = types.submodule (
-              lib.modules.importApply ./server-base.nix {
-                displayName = "all servers";
-                enable.name = "the `*` server config";
-                enable.default = true;
-                settings.extraDescription = ''
-                  Will be merged by neovim using the behaviour of [`vim.tbl_deep_extend()`](https://neovim.io/doc/user/lua.html#vim.tbl_deep_extend()).
-                '';
-                settings.example = {
-                  root_markers = [ ".git" ];
-                  capabilities.textDocument.semanticTokens = {
-                    multilineTokenSupport = true;
-                  };
-                };
-              }
-            );
-            apply = value: value // { name = "*"; };
+            type = types.submodule ./global-server.nix;
             default = { };
           };
         }
diff --git a/modules/lsp/global-server.nix b/modules/lsp/global-server.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5b64ad45
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/lsp/global-server.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+{ lib, ... }:
+let
+  inherit (lib) types;
+in
+{
+  options = {
+    enable = lib.mkOption {
+      type = types.bool;
+      description = "Whether to enable global defaults shared by all servers.";
+      default = true;
+      example = false;
+    };
+
+    name = lib.mkOption {
+      type = types.str;
+      description = ''
+        The name to use for global defaults shared by all servers.
+
+        Supplied to functions like `vim.lsp.config()`.
+
+        Will always be `"*"`.
+      '';
+      readOnly = true;
+    };
+
+    settings = lib.mkOption {
+      type = with types; attrsOf anything;
+      description = ''
+        Default configuration shared by all servers.
+
+        Will be merged by neovim using the behaviour of [`vim.tbl_deep_extend()`](https://neovim.io/doc/user/lua.html#vim.tbl_deep_extend()).
+      '';
+      default = { };
+      example = {
+        root_markers = [ ".git" ];
+        capabilities.textDocument.semanticTokens = {
+          multilineTokenSupport = true;
+        };
+      };
+    };
+  };
+
+  imports = [
+    ./server-renames.nix
+  ];
+
+  # Define the read-only `name` here, instead of via `default`, to avoid documenting it twice
+  config.name = "*";
+}
diff --git a/modules/lsp/server-base.nix b/modules/lsp/server-base.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index 664f6672..00000000
--- a/modules/lsp/server-base.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,61 +0,0 @@
-# Usage: lib.importApply ./server-base.nix { /*args*/ }
-{
-  displayName ? "the language server",
-  settings ? null,
-  enable ? null,
-}:
-{ lib, ... }:
-let
-  inherit (lib) types;
-in
-{
-  options = {
-    enable = lib.mkOption rec {
-      type = types.bool;
-      description = "Whether to enable ${enable.name or displayName}. ${enable.extraDescription or ""}";
-      default = enable.default or false;
-      example = enable.example or (!default);
-    };
-
-    settings = lib.mkOption {
-      type = with types; attrsOf anything;
-      description = ''
-        Configurations for ${displayName}. ${settings.extraDescription or ""}
-      '';
-      default = { };
-      example =
-        settings.example or {
-          cmd = [
-            "clangd"
-            "--background-index"
-          ];
-          root_markers = [
-            "compile_commands.json"
-            "compile_flags.txt"
-          ];
-          filetypes = [
-            "c"
-            "cpp"
-          ];
-        };
-    };
-
-    # NOTE: we need a warnings option for `mkRenamedOptionModule` to warn about unexpected definitions
-    # This can be removed when all rename aliases are gone
-    warnings = lib.mkOption {
-      type = with types; listOf str;
-      description = "Warnings to propagate to nixvim's `warnings` option.";
-      default = [ ];
-      internal = true;
-      visible = false;
-    };
-  };
-
-  imports = [
-    # TODO: rename added 2025-04-30 (during the 25.05 cycle)
-    # The previous name `config` was introduced 2025-04-28 (during the 25.05 cycle)
-    # Because the previous name `config` never made it into a stable release,
-    # we could consider dropping this alias sooner than normal.
-    (lib.mkRenamedOptionModule [ "config" ] [ "settings" ])
-  ];
-}
diff --git a/modules/lsp/server-renames.nix b/modules/lsp/server-renames.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e97c0332
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/lsp/server-renames.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+{ lib, ... }:
+{
+  # NOTE: we need a warnings option for `mkRenamedOptionModule` to warn about unexpected definitions
+  # This can be removed when all rename aliases are gone
+  options.warnings = lib.mkOption {
+    type = with lib.types; listOf str;
+    description = "Warnings to propagate to nixvim's `warnings` option.";
+    default = [ ];
+    internal = true;
+    visible = false;
+  };
+
+  imports = [
+    # TODO: rename added 2025-04-30 (during the 25.05 cycle)
+    # The previous name `config` was introduced 2025-04-28 (during the 25.05 cycle)
+    # Because the previous name `config` never made it into a stable release,
+    # we could consider dropping this alias sooner than normal.
+    (lib.mkRenamedOptionModule [ "config" ] [ "settings" ])
+  ];
+
+}
diff --git a/modules/lsp/server.nix b/modules/lsp/server.nix
index 93433848..b0d368af 100644
--- a/modules/lsp/server.nix
+++ b/modules/lsp/server.nix
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ let
 in
 {
   options = {
+    enable = lib.mkEnableOption displayName;
+
     name = lib.mkOption {
       type = types.maybeRaw types.str;
       description = ''
@@ -51,11 +53,32 @@ in
         Alternatively, ${displayName} should be installed on your `$PATH`.
       '';
     };
+
+    settings = lib.mkOption {
+      type = with types; attrsOf anything;
+      description = ''
+        Configurations for ${displayName}. ${settings.extraDescription or ""}
+      '';
+      default = { };
+      example =
+        settings.example or {
+          cmd = [
+            "clangd"
+            "--background-index"
+          ];
+          root_markers = [
+            "compile_commands.json"
+            "compile_flags.txt"
+          ];
+          filetypes = [
+            "c"
+            "cpp"
+          ];
+        };
+    };
   };
 
   imports = [
-    (lib.modules.importApply ./server-base.nix {
-      inherit displayName settings;
-    })
+    ./server-renames.nix
   ];
 }