diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/ni/nixos-rebuild-ng/src/nixos_rebuild/__init__.py b/pkgs/by-name/ni/nixos-rebuild-ng/src/nixos_rebuild/__init__.py
index 92394197110a..3371424ea214 100644
--- a/pkgs/by-name/ni/nixos-rebuild-ng/src/nixos_rebuild/__init__.py
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/ni/nixos-rebuild-ng/src/nixos_rebuild/__init__.py
@@ -331,6 +331,9 @@ def execute(argv: list[str]) -> None:
                     dry_run=dry_run,
                     **build_flags,
                 )
+            # If we are rolling back, the generation that we roll back to, should already be present on the remote
+            if not args.rollback:
+                nix.copy_closure(path_to_config, target_host, **copy_flags)
             if action in (Action.TEST, Action.DRY_ACTIVATE):
                 nix.switch_to_configuration(
                     path_to_config,