diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/security/munge.nix b/nixos/modules/services/security/munge.nix
index fda864f2c30a..504bc66c6d10 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/security/munge.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/security/munge.nix
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ in
       path = [ pkgs.munge pkgs.coreutils ];
 
       preStart = ''
-        chmod 0700 ${cfg.password}
+        chmod 0400 ${cfg.password}
         mkdir -p /var/lib/munge -m 0711
         chown -R munge:munge /var/lib/munge
         mkdir -p /run/munge -m 0755