diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1803.xml b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1803.xml
index 7a9c5a2303c..caf52195ead 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1803.xml
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1803.xml
@@ -80,6 +80,11 @@ has the following highlights: </para>
 following incompatible changes:</para>
 
 <itemizedlist>
+  <listitem>
+    <para>
+      <literal>sound.enable</literal> now defaults to false.
+    </para>
+  </listitem>
   <listitem>
     <para>
       Dollar signs in options under <option>services.postfix</option> are
@@ -209,11 +214,6 @@ following incompatible changes:</para>
       For <literal>stateVersion = "17.09"</literal> or lower the old behavior is preserved.
     </para>
     <itemizedlist>
-      <listitem>
-        <para>
-          <literal>sound.enable</literal> now defaults to false.
-        </para>
-      </listitem>
       <listitem>
         <para>
           <literal>matrix-synapse</literal> uses postgresql by default instead of sqlite.
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/audio/alsa.nix b/nixos/modules/services/audio/alsa.nix
index 161d873686a..e3e8bb28c58 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/audio/alsa.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/audio/alsa.nix
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ in
 
       enable = mkOption {
         type = types.bool;
-        defaultText = "!versionAtLeast system.stateVersion \"18.03\"";
+        default = false;
         description = ''
           Whether to enable ALSA sound.
         '';
@@ -78,11 +78,7 @@ in
 
   ###### implementation
 
-  config = mkMerge [
-    ({
-      sound.enable = mkDefault (!versionAtLeast config.system.stateVersion "18.03");
-    })
-    (mkIf config.sound.enable {
+  config = mkIf config.sound.enable {
 
     environment.systemPackages = [ alsaUtils ];
 
@@ -128,6 +124,6 @@ in
       ];
     };
 
-  })];
+  };
 
 }