diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/networking/pdnsd.nix b/nixos/modules/services/networking/pdnsd.nix
index cda55cc2a7e8..abc78b5d569b 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/networking/pdnsd.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/networking/pdnsd.nix
@@ -80,13 +80,13 @@ in
     systemd.services.pdnsd = {
       wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
       after = [ "network.target" ];
-      preStart = ''
-        mkdir -p "${cfg.cacheDir}"
-        touch "${cfg.cacheDir}/pdnsd.cache"
-        chown -R ${pdnsdUser}:${pdnsdGroup} "${cfg.cacheDir}"
-      '';
       description = "pdnsd";
       serviceConfig = {
+        ExecStartPre = [
+          "${lib.getExe' pkgs.coreutils "mkdir"} -p '${cfg.cacheDir}'"
+          "${lib.getExe' pkgs.coreutils "touch"} '${cfg.cacheDir}/pdnsd.cache'"
+          "${lib.getExe' pkgs.coreutils "chown"} -R ${pdnsdUser}:${pdnsdGroup} '${cfg.cacheDir}'"
+        ];
         ExecStart = "${pdnsd}/bin/pdnsd -c ${pdnsdConf}";
       };
     };