diff --git a/nixos/modules/system/activation/switch-to-configuration.pl b/nixos/modules/system/activation/switch-to-configuration.pl
index 4adcf1a16790..027e050511fb 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/system/activation/switch-to-configuration.pl
+++ b/nixos/modules/system/activation/switch-to-configuration.pl
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ my $reloadByActivationFile = "/run/nixos/activation-reload-list";
 my $dryRestartByActivationFile = "/run/nixos/dry-activation-restart-list";
 my $dryReloadByActivationFile = "/run/nixos/dry-activation-reload-list";
 
-make_path("/run/nixos", { mode => 0755 });
+make_path("/run/nixos", { mode => oct(755) });
 
 my $action = shift @ARGV;