diff --git a/nixos/modules/virtualisation/qemu-guest-agent.nix b/nixos/modules/virtualisation/qemu-guest-agent.nix
index 6a735f451a7..3824d0c168f 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/virtualisation/qemu-guest-agent.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/virtualisation/qemu-guest-agent.nix
@@ -30,9 +30,12 @@ in {
       systemd.services.qemu-guest-agent = {
         description = "Run the QEMU Guest Agent";
         serviceConfig = {
-          ExecStart = "${cfg.package}/bin/qemu-ga";
+          ExecStart = "${cfg.package}/bin/qemu-ga --statedir /run/qemu-ga";
           Restart = "always";
           RestartSec = 0;
+          # Runtime directory and mode
+          RuntimeDirectory = "qemu-ga";
+          RuntimeDirectoryMode = "0755";
         };
       };
     }