diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/misc/gitlab.nix b/nixos/modules/services/misc/gitlab.nix
index dd92eb999402..07ea9c458437 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/misc/gitlab.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/misc/gitlab.nix
@@ -741,7 +741,6 @@ in {
         gitlab-workhorse
       ];
       serviceConfig = {
-        PermissionsStartOnly = true; # preStart must be run as root
         Type = "simple";
         User = cfg.user;
         Group = cfg.group;
@@ -794,6 +793,7 @@ in {
             cp -f ${cfg.packages.gitlab}/share/gitlab/VERSION ${cfg.statePath}/VERSION
             rm -rf ${cfg.statePath}/db/*
             rm -rf ${cfg.statePath}/config/initializers/*
+            rm -f ${cfg.statePath}/lib
             cp -rf --no-preserve=mode ${cfg.packages.gitlab}/share/gitlab/config.dist/* ${cfg.statePath}/config
             cp -rf --no-preserve=mode ${cfg.packages.gitlab}/share/gitlab/db/* ${cfg.statePath}/db