diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/backup/syncoid.nix b/nixos/modules/services/backup/syncoid.nix
index 779c71a6ba94..1e445f4bebed 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/backup/syncoid.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/backup/syncoid.nix
@@ -16,11 +16,11 @@ let
     lib.concatMapStrings (s: if lib.isList s then "-" else s)
       (builtins.split "[^a-zA-Z0-9_.\\-]+" name);
 
-  # Function to build "zfs allow" commands for the filesystems we've
-  # delegated permissions to. It also checks if the target dataset
-  # exists before delegating permissions, if it doesn't exist we
-  # delegate it to the parent dataset. This should solve the case of
-  # provisoning new datasets.
+  # Function to build "zfs allow" commands for the filesystems we've delegated
+  # permissions to. It also checks if the target dataset exists before
+  # delegating permissions, if it doesn't exist we delegate it to the parent
+  # dataset (if it exists). This should solve the case of provisoning new
+  # datasets.
   buildAllowCommand = permissions: dataset: (
     "-+${pkgs.writeShellScript "zfs-allow-${dataset}" ''
       # Here we explicitly use the booted system to guarantee the stable API needed by ZFS
@@ -38,15 +38,17 @@ let
           (concatStringsSep "," permissions)
           dataset
         ]}
-      else
-        ${lib.escapeShellArgs [
-          "/run/booted-system/sw/bin/zfs"
-          "allow"
-          cfg.user
-          (concatStringsSep "," permissions)
-          # Remove the last part of the path
-          (builtins.dirOf dataset)
-        ]}
+      ${lib.optionalString ((builtins.dirOf dataset) != ".") ''
+        else
+          ${lib.escapeShellArgs [
+            "/run/booted-system/sw/bin/zfs"
+            "allow"
+            cfg.user
+            (concatStringsSep "," permissions)
+            # Remove the last part of the path
+            (builtins.dirOf dataset)
+          ]}
+      ''}
       fi
     ''}"
   );
@@ -67,14 +69,14 @@ let
         (concatStringsSep "," permissions)
         dataset
       ]}
-      ${lib.escapeShellArgs [
+      ${lib.optionalString ((builtins.dirOf dataset) != ".") (lib.escapeShellArgs [
         "/run/booted-system/sw/bin/zfs"
         "unallow"
         cfg.user
         (concatStringsSep "," permissions)
         # Remove the last part of the path
         (builtins.dirOf dataset)
-      ]}
+      ])}
     ''}"
   );
 in
diff --git a/nixos/tests/sanoid.nix b/nixos/tests/sanoid.nix
index 3bdbe0a8d8db..97833c37e6ef 100644
--- a/nixos/tests/sanoid.nix
+++ b/nixos/tests/sanoid.nix
@@ -48,6 +48,9 @@ in {
           };
           # Take snapshot and sync
           "pool/syncoid".target = "root@target:pool/syncoid";
+
+          # Test pool without parent (regression test for https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/180111)
+          "pool".target = "root@target:pool/full-pool";
         };
       };
     };
@@ -105,6 +108,9 @@ in {
     source.systemctl("start --wait syncoid-pool-syncoid.service")
     target.succeed("cat /mnt/pool/syncoid/test.txt")
 
+    source.systemctl("start --wait syncoid-pool.service")
+    target.succeed("[[ -d /mnt/pool/full-pool/syncoid ]]")
+
     assert len(source.succeed("zfs allow pool")) == 0, "Pool shouldn't have delegated permissions set after syncing snapshots"
     assert len(source.succeed("zfs allow pool/sanoid")) == 0, "Sanoid dataset shouldn't have delegated permissions set after syncing snapshots"
     assert len(source.succeed("zfs allow pool/syncoid")) == 0, "Syncoid dataset shouldn't have delegated permissions set after syncing snapshots"