diff --git a/lib/attrsets.nix b/lib/attrsets.nix
index 77e36d3271f..11932c05dd2 100644
--- a/lib/attrsets.nix
+++ b/lib/attrsets.nix
@@ -392,7 +392,7 @@ rec {
       foldlAttrs :: ( a -> String -> b -> a ) -> a -> { ... :: b } -> a
   */
   foldlAttrs = f: init: set:
-    foldl'
+    builtins.foldl'
       (acc: name: f acc name set.${name})
       init
       (attrNames set);
diff --git a/lib/lists.nix b/lib/lists.nix
index 8c5099084bb..3835e3ba69c 100644
--- a/lib/lists.nix
+++ b/lib/lists.nix
@@ -90,9 +90,12 @@ rec {
     Reduce a list by applying a binary operator from left to right,
     starting with an initial accumulator.
 
-    After each application of the operator, the resulting value is evaluated.
+    Before each application of the operator, the accumulator value is evaluated.
     This behavior makes this function stricter than [`foldl`](#function-library-lib.lists.foldl).
 
+    Unlike [`builtins.foldl'`](https://nixos.org/manual/nix/unstable/language/builtins.html#builtins-foldl'),
+    the initial accumulator argument is evaluated before the first iteration.
+
     A call like
 
     ```nix
@@ -104,7 +107,7 @@ rec {
 
     ```nix
     let
-      acc₁   =                      op acc₀   x₀   ;
+      acc₁   = builtins.seq acc₀   (op acc₀   x₀  );
       acc₂   = builtins.seq acc₁   (op acc₁   x₁  );
       acc₃   = builtins.seq acc₂   (op acc₂   x₂  );
       ...
@@ -135,7 +138,11 @@ rec {
     # The list to fold
     list:
 
-    builtins.foldl' op acc list;
+    # The builtin `foldl'` is a bit lazier than one might expect.
+    # See https://github.com/NixOS/nix/pull/7158.
+    # In particular, the initial accumulator value is not forced before the first iteration starts.
+    builtins.seq acc
+      (builtins.foldl' op acc list);
 
   /* Map with index starting from 0
 
diff --git a/lib/tests/misc.nix b/lib/tests/misc.nix
index 50d615c5be3..d40d9204988 100644
--- a/lib/tests/misc.nix
+++ b/lib/tests/misc.nix
@@ -524,10 +524,10 @@ runTests {
     expected = [ 3 2 1 ];
   };
 
-  # The same as builtins.foldl', lib.foldl' doesn't evaluate the first accumulator strictly
+  # Compared to builtins.foldl', lib.foldl' evaluates the first accumulator strictly too
   testFoldl'StrictInitial = {
     expr = (builtins.tryEval (foldl' (acc: el: el) (throw "hello") [])).success;
-    expected = true;
+    expected = false;
   };
 
   # Make sure we don't get a stack overflow for large lists
diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2311.section.md b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2311.section.md
index cdb73fb49fa..011fa84c96a 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2311.section.md
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2311.section.md
@@ -226,6 +226,9 @@
 
 - `networking.networkmanager.firewallBackend` was removed as NixOS is now using iptables-nftables-compat even when using iptables, therefore Networkmanager now uses the nftables backend unconditionally.
 
+- [`lib.lists.foldl'`](https://nixos.org/manual/nixpkgs/stable#function-library-lib.lists.foldl-prime) now always evaluates the initial accumulator argument first.
+  If you depend on the lazier behavior, consider using [`lib.lists.foldl`](https://nixos.org/manual/nixpkgs/stable#function-library-lib.lists.foldl) or [`builtins.foldl'`](https://nixos.org/manual/nix/stable/language/builtins.html#builtins-foldl') instead.
+
 - `rome` was removed because it is no longer maintained and is succeeded by `biome`.
 
 - The `services.mtr-exporter.target` has been removed in favor of `services.mtr-exporter.jobs` which allows specifying multiple targets.