diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/misc/homepage-dashboard.nix b/nixos/modules/services/misc/homepage-dashboard.nix
index 7d8bf8ddfd37..72861fdbbe87 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/misc/homepage-dashboard.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/misc/homepage-dashboard.nix
@@ -227,12 +227,14 @@ in
         Restart = "on-failure";
       };
 
+      enableStrictShellChecks = true;
+
       # Related:
       # * https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/346016 ("homepage-dashboard: cache dir is not cleared upon version upgrade")
       # * https://github.com/gethomepage/homepage/discussions/4560 ("homepage NixOS package does not clear cache on upgrade leaving broken state")
       # * https://github.com/vercel/next.js/discussions/58864 ("Feature Request: Allow configuration of cache dir")
       preStart = ''
-        rm -rf "$NIXPKGS_HOMEPAGE_CACHE_DIR"/*
+        rm -rf "''${NIXPKGS_HOMEPAGE_CACHE_DIR:?}"/*
       '';
     };