diff --git a/nixos/boxes/colony.nix b/nixos/boxes/colony.nix
index 07d88ea..3df2648 100644
--- a/nixos/boxes/colony.nix
+++ b/nixos/boxes/colony.nix
@@ -64,10 +64,20 @@
             };
             networks."80-base" = networkdAssignment "base" assignments.internal;
           };
-          services."vm@estuary" = rec {
-            # Bind to the interface, networkd wait-online would deadlock...
+
+          services."vm@estuary" = {
+            # Depend the interface, networkd wait-online would deadlock...
             requires = [ "sys-subsystem-net-devices-base.device" ];
-            bindsTo = requires;
+            preStart = ''
+              count=0
+              while ! ${pkgs.iproute2}/bin/ip link show dev base > /dev/null 2>&1; do
+                  count=$((count+1))
+                  if [ $count -ge 5 ]; then
+                    echo "Timed out waiting for bridge interface"
+                  fi
+                  sleep 0.5
+              done
+            '';
           };
         };
 
diff --git a/nixos/modules/vms.nix b/nixos/modules/vms.nix
index 02d7a14..60129b6 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/vms.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/vms.nix
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ let
         print(f'usage: {sys.argv[0]} <qmp unix socket>', file=sys.stderr)
         sys.exit(1)
 
-      if not os.path.exists(sys.argv[1]) and 'MAINPID' not in os.environ:
+      if 'MAINPID' not in os.environ:
           # Special case: systemd is calling us after QEMU exited on its own
           sys.exit(0)