diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/networking/bird.nix b/nixos/modules/services/networking/bird.nix
index 9c830a7c0cc0..d833e4803f92 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/networking/bird.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/networking/bird.nix
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ in
     systemd.services.bird = {
       description = "BIRD Internet Routing Daemon";
       wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
+      after = [ "network.target" ];
       reloadTriggers = lib.optional cfg.autoReload config.environment.etc."bird/bird.conf".source;
       serviceConfig = {
         Type = "forking";