diff --git a/modules/services/audio/alsa.nix b/modules/services/audio/alsa.nix
index ead53c3dc3a0..e9f8b88fdc6c 100644
--- a/modules/services/audio/alsa.nix
+++ b/modules/services/audio/alsa.nix
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ in
       { description = "Store Sound Card State";
         wantedBy = [ "shutdown.target" ];
         before = [ "shutdown.target" ];
+        preStart = "mkdir -p /var/lib/alsa";
         unitConfig.DefaultDependencies = "no";
         serviceConfig.Type = "oneshot";
         serviceConfig.ExecStart = "${alsaUtils}/sbin/alsactl store --ignore";