diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/audio/gonic.nix b/nixos/modules/services/audio/gonic.nix
index 5ed639fb8a75..da259d6957d9 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/audio/gonic.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/audio/gonic.nix
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ in
 
       enable = lib.mkEnableOption "Gonic music server";
 
+      package = lib.mkPackageOption pkgs "gonic" { };
+
       settings = lib.mkOption rec {
         type = settingsFormat.type;
         apply = lib.recursiveUpdate default;
@@ -62,8 +64,7 @@ in
               n: v: !((n == "tls-cert" || n == "tls-key") && v == null)
             ) cfg.settings;
           in
-          "${pkgs.gonic}/bin/gonic -config-path ${settingsFormat.generate "gonic" filteredSettings}";
-        DynamicUser = true;
+          "${lib.getExe cfg.package} -config-path ${settingsFormat.generate "gonic" filteredSettings}";
         StateDirectory = "gonic";
         CacheDirectory = "gonic";
         WorkingDirectory = "/var/lib/gonic";
diff --git a/nixos/tests/gonic.nix b/nixos/tests/gonic.nix
index 836e7167035f..9e8230f262ca 100644
--- a/nixos/tests/gonic.nix
+++ b/nixos/tests/gonic.nix
@@ -1,19 +1,34 @@
-{ pkgs, ... }:
+{ lib, pkgs, ... }:
 {
   name = "gonic";
+  meta.maintainers = pkgs.gonic.meta.maintainers;
 
-  nodes.machine =
-    { ... }:
+  nodes.default_cache_dir =
+    { config, ... }:
     {
       systemd.tmpfiles.settings = {
         "10-gonic" = {
           "/tmp/music"."d" = { };
           "/tmp/podcast"."d" = { };
           "/tmp/playlists"."d" = { };
+          "/tmp/secrets"."d" = { };
         };
       };
       services.gonic = {
         enable = true;
+        # Wrap gonic to check that the required paths are writable.
+        # This isn't necessarily checked by successful service startup.
+        package = pkgs.writeShellApplication {
+          name = "gonic-test-wrapper";
+          runtimeInputs = [ pkgs.gonic ];
+          text = ''
+            touch ${config.services.gonic.settings.cache-path}/foo && echo "cache dir writeable" >&2
+            touch /tmp/podcast/foo && echo "podcast dir writeable" >&2
+            touch /tmp/playlists/foo && echo "playlists dir writeable" >&2
+            touch /tmp/secrets/foo && echo "shouldn't be able to write /tmp/secrets" >&2 && exit 1
+            exec ${lib.getExe pkgs.gonic} "$@"
+          '';
+        };
         settings = {
           music-path = [ "/tmp/music" ];
           podcast-path = "/tmp/podcast";
@@ -22,8 +37,33 @@
       };
     };
 
+  nodes.custom_cache_dir =
+    { ... }:
+    {
+      systemd.tmpfiles.settings = {
+        "10-gonic" = {
+          "/tmp/music"."d" = { };
+          "/tmp/podcast"."d" = { };
+          "/tmp/playlists"."d" = { };
+          "/tmp/cache"."d" = { };
+        };
+      };
+      services.gonic = {
+        enable = true;
+        settings = {
+          music-path = [ "/tmp/music" ];
+          podcast-path = "/tmp/podcast";
+          playlists-path = "/tmp/playlists";
+          cache-path = "/tmp/cache";
+        };
+      };
+    };
+
   testScript = ''
-    machine.wait_for_unit("gonic")
-    machine.wait_for_open_port(4747)
+    default_cache_dir.wait_for_unit("gonic")
+    default_cache_dir.wait_for_open_port(4747)
+
+    custom_cache_dir.wait_for_unit("gonic")
+    custom_cache_dir.wait_for_open_port(4747)
   '';
 }