diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/networking/nats.nix b/nixos/modules/services/networking/nats.nix
index f159ef068b56..4851daae4dba 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/networking/nats.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/networking/nats.nix
@@ -10,6 +10,13 @@ let
 
   configFile = format.generate "nats.conf" cfg.settings;
 
+  validateConfig = file:
+  pkgs.runCommand "validate-nats-conf" {
+    nativeBuildInputs = [ pkgs.nats-server ];
+  } ''
+    nats-server --config "${configFile}" -t
+    ln -s "${configFile}" "$out"
+  '';
 in {
 
   ### Interface
@@ -104,7 +111,7 @@ in {
         })
         {
           Type = "simple";
-          ExecStart = "${pkgs.nats-server}/bin/nats-server -c ${configFile}";
+          ExecStart = "${pkgs.nats-server}/bin/nats-server -c ${validateConfig configFile}";
           ExecReload = "${pkgs.coreutils}/bin/kill -HUP $MAINPID";
           ExecStop = "${pkgs.coreutils}/bin/kill -SIGINT $MAINPID";
           Restart = "on-failure";