diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/networking/zerotierone.nix b/nixos/modules/services/networking/zerotierone.nix
index 2485327ed44e..8b52ad7dd51e 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/networking/zerotierone.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/networking/zerotierone.nix
@@ -60,14 +60,16 @@ in
         mkdir -p /var/lib/zerotier-one/networks.d
         chmod 700 /var/lib/zerotier-one
         chown -R root:root /var/lib/zerotier-one
+
+        # cleans up old symlinks also if we unset localConf
+        if [[ -L "${localConfFilePath}" && "$(readlink "${localConfFilePath}")" =~ ^${builtins.storeDir}.* ]]; then
+          rm ${localConfFilePath}
+        fi
       '' + (concatMapStrings (netId: ''
         touch "/var/lib/zerotier-one/networks.d/${netId}.conf"
-      '') cfg.joinNetworks) + optionalString (cfg.localConf != {}) ''
-        if [ -L "${localConfFilePath}" ]
-        then
-          rm ${localConfFilePath}
-        elif [ -f "${localConfFilePath}" ]
-        then
+      '') cfg.joinNetworks) + lib.optionalString (cfg.localConf != {}) ''
+        # in case the user has applied manual changes to the local.conf, we backup the file
+        if [ -f "${localConfFilePath}" ]; then
           mv ${localConfFilePath} ${localConfFilePath}.bak
         fi
         ln -s ${localConfFile} ${localConfFilePath}