diff --git a/nixos/modules/virtualisation/libvirtd.nix b/nixos/modules/virtualisation/libvirtd.nix
index 03691d12e63a..05c916751303 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/virtualisation/libvirtd.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/virtualisation/libvirtd.nix
@@ -515,6 +515,8 @@ in
 
     systemd.services.libvirt-guests = {
       wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
+      requires = [ "libvirtd.service" ];
+      after = [ "libvirtd.service" ];
       path = with pkgs; [ coreutils gawk cfg.package ];
       restartIfChanged = false;