diff --git a/nixosModules/clanCore/defaults.nix b/nixosModules/clanCore/defaults.nix
index 30b8bea07..35ec74375 100644
--- a/nixosModules/clanCore/defaults.nix
+++ b/nixosModules/clanCore/defaults.nix
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
     lib.mkIf config.clan.core.enableRecommendedDefaults {
 
       # Enable automatic state-version generation.
-      clan.core.settings.state-version.enable = true;
+      clan.core.settings.state-version.enable = lib.mkDefault true;
 
       # Use systemd during boot as well except:
       # - systems with raids as this currently require manual configuration: https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/210210
diff --git a/pkgs/installer/flake-module.nix b/pkgs/installer/flake-module.nix
index 8c853ed54..cbaf937a2 100644
--- a/pkgs/installer/flake-module.nix
+++ b/pkgs/installer/flake-module.nix
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ let
         self.nixosModules.installer
       ];
 
+      # We don't need state-version in a live installer, we can just set nixos.release directly
+      clan.core.settings.state-version.enable = false;
       system.stateVersion = config.system.nixos.release;
       nixpkgs.pkgs = self.inputs.nixpkgs.legacyPackages.x86_64-linux;
 
diff --git a/templates/machine/flash-installer/configuration.nix b/templates/machine/flash-installer/configuration.nix
index 431680ec3..423ba2667 100644
--- a/templates/machine/flash-installer/configuration.nix
+++ b/templates/machine/flash-installer/configuration.nix
@@ -10,9 +10,6 @@
     clan-core.nixosModules.installer
   ];
 
-  # We don't need state-version in a live installer
-  clan.core.settings.state-version.enable = false;
-
   clan.core.deployment.requireExplicitUpdate = true;
 
   nixpkgs.pkgs = inputs.nixpkgs.legacyPackages.x86_64-linux;