diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/web-apps/pump.io.nix b/nixos/modules/services/web-apps/pump.io.nix
index b7c64bc6940b..b946aa28477f 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/web-apps/pump.io.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/web-apps/pump.io.nix
@@ -57,7 +57,8 @@ let
     smtpfrom = cfg.smtpFrom;
 
     nologger = false;
-    uploaddir =  "${dataDir}/uploads";
+    enableUploads = cfg.enableUploads;
+    datadir = dataDir;
     debugClient = false;
     firehose = cfg.firehose;
     disableRegistration = cfg.disableRegistration;
@@ -152,6 +153,15 @@ in
         '';
       };
 
+      enableUploads = mkOption {
+        type = types.bool;
+        default = true;
+        description = ''
+          If you want to disable file uploads, set this to false. Uploaded files will be stored
+          in ${dataDir}/uploads.
+        '';
+      };
+
       sslKey = mkOption {
         type = types.path;
         example = "${dataDir}/myserver.key";
@@ -341,7 +351,15 @@ in
       { description = "pump.io social network stream server";
         after = [ "network.target" ];
         wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
+
+        preStart = ''
+          mkdir -p ${dataDir}/uploads
+          chown pumpio:pumpio ${dataDir}/uploads
+          chmod 770 ${dataDir}/uploads
+        '';
+
         serviceConfig.ExecStart = "${pkgs.pumpio}/bin/pump -c /etc/pump.io.json";
+        PermissionsStartOnly = true;
         serviceConfig.User = if cfg.port < 1024 then "root" else user;
         serviceConfig.Group = user;
       };