diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/logging/heartbeat.nix b/nixos/modules/services/logging/heartbeat.nix
index 2280c4349144..8cc99e84c9bf 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/logging/heartbeat.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/logging/heartbeat.nix
@@ -67,12 +67,10 @@ in
     systemd.services.heartbeat = {
       description = "heartbeat log shipper";
       wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
-      preStart = ''
-        mkdir -p "${cfg.stateDir}"/{data,logs}
-      '';
       serviceConfig = {
         User = "nobody";
         AmbientCapabilities = "cap_net_raw";
+        ExecStartPre = "${lib.getExe' pkgs.coreutils "mkdir"} -p '${cfg.stateDir}'/data '${cfg.stateDir}'/logs";
         ExecStart = "${cfg.package}/bin/heartbeat -c \"${heartbeatYml}\" -path.data \"${cfg.stateDir}/data\" -path.logs \"${cfg.stateDir}/logs\"";
       };
     };