diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/networking/dhcpcd.nix b/nixos/modules/services/networking/dhcpcd.nix
index de0aa1a2c2c310..019c8fd9ec483b 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/networking/dhcpcd.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/networking/dhcpcd.nix
@@ -161,8 +161,8 @@ in
       { description = "DHCP Client";
 
         wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ] ++ optional (!hasDefaultGatewaySet) "network-online.target";
-        after = [ "network.target" ];
         wants = [ "network.target" ];
+        before = [ "network.target" ];
 
         # Stopping dhcpcd during a reconfiguration is undesirable
         # because it brings down the network interfaces configured by