diff --git a/modules/system/activation/switch-to-configuration.sh b/modules/system/activation/switch-to-configuration.sh
index 371b6835368..8b8ea718666 100644
--- a/modules/system/activation/switch-to-configuration.sh
+++ b/modules/system/activation/switch-to-configuration.sh
@@ -106,8 +106,7 @@ declare -A noRestartIfChanged=(@noRestartIfChanged@)
 # all jobs that don't have a "stop" goal.)  We use the symlinks in
 # /var/run/upstart-jobs (created by each job's pre-start script) to
 # determine if a job has changed.
-for job in $(cd $jobsDir && ls *.conf); do
-    job=$(basename $job .conf)
+for job in @jobs@; do
     status=$(status "$job")
     if ! [[ "$status" =~ start/ ]]; then continue; fi
     if [ "$(readlink -f "$jobsDir/$job.conf")" = "$(readlink -f "/var/run/upstart-jobs/$job")" ]; then continue; fi
@@ -128,8 +127,7 @@ done
 # differs from the previous instance of the same task; if it wasn't
 # previously run, don't run it.  If it's a service, only start it if
 # it has a "start on" condition.
-for job in $(cd $jobsDir && ls *.conf); do
-    job=$(basename $job .conf)
+for job in @jobs@; do
     status=$(status "$job")
     if ! [[ "$status" =~ stop/ ]]; then continue; fi
 
diff --git a/modules/system/activation/top-level.nix b/modules/system/activation/top-level.nix
index df07bc1095a..f1bc4eea597 100644
--- a/modules/system/activation/top-level.nix
+++ b/modules/system/activation/top-level.nix
@@ -154,6 +154,8 @@ let
     initScriptBuilder = config.system.build.initScriptBuilder;
     activationScript = config.system.activationScripts.script;
 
+    jobs = map (j: j.name) (attrValues config.jobs);
+
     # Pass the names of all Upstart tasks to the activation script.
     tasks = attrValues (mapAttrs (n: v: if v.task then ["[${v.name}]=1"] else []) config.jobs);