diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/monitoring/librenms.nix b/nixos/modules/services/monitoring/librenms.nix
index 49d76a82a921..06ee43f2a26d 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/monitoring/librenms.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/monitoring/librenms.nix
@@ -596,7 +596,9 @@ in
           ${pkgs.envsubst}/bin/envsubst -i ${configJson} -o ${cfg.dataDir}/config.json
           export PHPRC=${phpIni}
 
+          INIT=false
           if [[ ! -s ${cfg.dataDir}/.env ]]; then
+            INIT=true
             # init .env file
             echo "APP_KEY=" > ${cfg.dataDir}/.env
             ${artisanWrapper}/bin/librenms-artisan key:generate --ansi
@@ -655,6 +657,10 @@ in
             echo "${package.version}" > ${cfg.dataDir}/version
           fi
 
+          if [[ $INIT == "true" ]]; then
+            ${artisanWrapper}/bin/librenms-artisan db:seed --force --no-interaction
+          fi
+
           # regenerate cache if package has changed
           if [[ $OLD_PACKAGE != "${package}" ]]; then
             ${artisanWrapper}/bin/librenms-artisan view:clear
diff --git a/nixos/tests/librenms.nix b/nixos/tests/librenms.nix
index d8d3e5eb92fa..d4aff22392cf 100644
--- a/nixos/tests/librenms.nix
+++ b/nixos/tests/librenms.nix
@@ -50,9 +50,6 @@ in
         API_USER_NAME=api
         API_TOKEN=${api_token} # random md5 hash
 
-        # seeding database to get the admin roles
-        ${pkgs.librenms}/artisan db:seed --force --no-interaction
-
         # we don't need to know the password, it just has to exist
         API_USER_PASS=$(${pkgs.pwgen}/bin/pwgen -s 64 1)
         ${pkgs.librenms}/artisan user:add $API_USER_NAME -r admin -p $API_USER_PASS