diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/networking/syncthing.nix b/nixos/modules/services/networking/syncthing.nix
index 0876007a6e73..ea87e5695f87 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/networking/syncthing.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/networking/syncthing.nix
@@ -55,8 +55,8 @@ let
 
     # generate the new config by merging with the NixOS config options
     new_cfg=$(printf '%s\n' "$old_cfg" | ${pkgs.jq}/bin/jq -c '. * {
-        "devices": (${builtins.toJSON devices}${optionalString (! cfg.overrideDevices) " + .devices"}),
-        "folders": (${builtins.toJSON folders}${optionalString (! cfg.overrideFolders) " + .folders"})
+        "devices": (${builtins.toJSON devices}${optionalString (cfg.devices == {} || ! cfg.overrideDevices) " + .devices"}),
+        "folders": (${builtins.toJSON folders}${optionalString (cfg.folders == {} || ! cfg.overrideFolders) " + .folders"})
     } * ${builtins.toJSON cfg.extraOptions}')
 
     # send the new config