diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/logging/promtail.nix b/nixos/modules/services/logging/promtail.nix
index a34bc07b6ab2..9eccd34cef23 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/logging/promtail.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/logging/promtail.nix
@@ -41,6 +41,10 @@ in {
       wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
       stopIfChanged = false;
 
+      preStart = ''
+        ${lib.getExe pkgs.promtail} -config.file=${prettyJSON cfg.configuration} -check-syntax
+      '';
+
       serviceConfig = {
         Restart = "on-failure";
         TimeoutStopSec = 10;