diff --git a/nixos/modules/system/activation/switch-to-configuration.pl b/nixos/modules/system/activation/switch-to-configuration.pl
index 655fbab2a843..d9048427801f 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/system/activation/switch-to-configuration.pl
+++ b/nixos/modules/system/activation/switch-to-configuration.pl
@@ -323,7 +323,7 @@ foreach my $device (keys %$prevSwaps) {
 
 
 # Should we have systemd re-exec itself?
-my $prevSystemd = abs_path("/proc/1/exe") or die;
+my $prevSystemd = abs_path("/proc/1/exe") // "/unknown";
 my $newSystemd = abs_path("@systemd@/lib/systemd/systemd") or die;
 my $restartSystemd = $prevSystemd ne $newSystemd;