diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/misc/apache-kafka.nix b/nixos/modules/services/misc/apache-kafka.nix
index 363ac4411e11..9eeae9556992 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/misc/apache-kafka.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/misc/apache-kafka.nix
@@ -131,6 +131,8 @@ in {
       home = head cfg.logDirs;
     };
 
+    systemd.tmpfiles.rules = map (logDir: "d '${logDir} 0700 apache-kafka - - -") cfg.logDirs;
+
     systemd.services.apache-kafka = {
       description = "Apache Kafka Daemon";
       wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
@@ -145,15 +147,8 @@ in {
             ${serverConfig}
         '';
         User = "apache-kafka";
-        PermissionsStartOnly = true;
         SuccessExitStatus = "0 143";
       };
-      preStart = ''
-        mkdir -m 0700 -p ${concatStringsSep " " cfg.logDirs}
-        if [ "$(id -u)" = 0 ]; then
-           chown apache-kafka ${concatStringsSep " " cfg.logDirs};
-        fi
-      '';
     };
 
   };