diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/misc/taskserver/default.nix b/nixos/modules/services/misc/taskserver/default.nix
index 64ff7437fb08..592514718940 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/misc/taskserver/default.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/misc/taskserver/default.nix
@@ -498,16 +498,16 @@ in
         ca.cert = if needToCreateCA then "${cfg.dataDir}/keys/ca.cert" else "${cfg.pki.manual.ca.cert}";
       };
 
+      systemd.tmpfiles.rules = [
+        "d ${cfg.dataDir} 0770 ${cfg.user} ${cfg.group}"
+        "z ${cfg.dataDir} 0770 ${cfg.user} ${cfg.group}"
+      ];
+
       systemd.services.taskserver-init = {
         wantedBy = [ "taskserver.service" ];
         before = [ "taskserver.service" ];
         description = "Initialize Taskserver Data Directory";
 
-        preStart = ''
-          mkdir -m 0770 -p "${cfg.dataDir}"
-          chown "${cfg.user}:${cfg.group}" "${cfg.dataDir}"
-        '';
-
         script = ''
           ${taskd} init
           touch "${cfg.dataDir}/.is_initialized"
diff --git a/nixos/tests/taskserver.nix b/nixos/tests/taskserver.nix
index bd4dac40da87..31dfea00435c 100644
--- a/nixos/tests/taskserver.nix
+++ b/nixos/tests/taskserver.nix
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ import ./make-test-python.nix (
     testScript =
       { nodes, ... }:
       let
-        cfg = nodes.server.config.services.taskserver;
+        cfg = nodes.server.services.taskserver;
         portStr = toString cfg.listenPort;
         specialisations = "${nodes.server.system.build.toplevel}/specialisation";
         newServerSystem = "${specialisations}/manual_config";