diff --git a/nixos/modules/system/activation/switch-to-configuration.pl b/nixos/modules/system/activation/switch-to-configuration.pl
index 8a3b6a225c05..6ba72638b45d 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/system/activation/switch-to-configuration.pl
+++ b/nixos/modules/system/activation/switch-to-configuration.pl
@@ -500,7 +500,9 @@ while (my ($unit, $state) = each %{$activeNew}) {
             push @failed, $unit;
         }
     }
-    elsif ($state->{state} ne "failed" && !defined $activePrev->{$unit}) {
+    # Ignore scopes since they are not managed by this script but rather
+    # created and managed by third-party services via the systemd dbus API.
+    elsif ($state->{state} ne "failed" && !defined $activePrev->{$unit} && $unit !~ /\.scope$/) {
         push @new, $unit;
     }
 }