diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/misc/gitlab.nix b/nixos/modules/services/misc/gitlab.nix
index 58ef463c49e..0b15b40c72c 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/misc/gitlab.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/misc/gitlab.nix
@@ -780,6 +780,7 @@ in {
           preStart = ''
             cp -f ${cfg.packages.gitlab}/share/gitlab/VERSION ${cfg.statePath}/VERSION
             rm -rf ${cfg.statePath}/db/*
+            rm -rf ${cfg.statePath}/config/initializers/*
             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