diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/inventory/__init__.py b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/inventory/__init__.py
index 9dba86ddf..0a7965f28 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/inventory/__init__.py
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/inventory/__init__.py
@@ -473,10 +473,18 @@ def patch(d: dict[str, Any], path: str, content: Any) -> None:
 
 @API.register
 def patch_inventory_with(base_dir: Path, section: str, content: dict[str, Any]) -> None:
+    """
+    Pass only the section to update and the content to update with.
+    Make sure you pass only attributes that you would like to persist.
+    ATTENTION: Don't pass nix eval values unintentionally.
+    """
+
     inventory_file = get_inventory_path(base_dir)
+
     curr_inventory = {}
-    with inventory_file.open("r") as f:
-        curr_inventory = json.load(f)
+    if inventory_file.exists():
+        with inventory_file.open("r") as f:
+            curr_inventory = json.load(f)
 
     patch(curr_inventory, section, content)
 
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/machines/create.py b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/machines/create.py
index 5ea2a4e67..c54309f86 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/machines/create.py
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/machines/create.py
@@ -12,12 +12,11 @@ from clan_cli.flake import Flake
 from clan_cli.git import commit_file
 from clan_cli.inventory import (
     Machine as InventoryMachine,
-    patch_inventory_with,
-    dataclass_to_dict,
 )
 from clan_cli.inventory import (
     MachineDeploy,
-    get_inventory,
+    dataclass_to_dict,
+    patch_inventory_with,
 )
 from clan_cli.machines.list import list_nixos_machines
 from clan_cli.templates import (
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/tests/test_patch_inventory.py b/pkgs/clan-cli/tests/test_patch_inventory.py
index e1e1533b0..387502db6 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-cli/tests/test_patch_inventory.py
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/tests/test_patch_inventory.py
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 # Functions to test
+from typing import Any
+
 import pytest
 from clan_cli.errors import ClanError
 from clan_cli.inventory import (
@@ -370,7 +372,7 @@ def test_dont_persist_defaults() -> None:
         "enabled": True,
         "config": {"foo": "bar"},
     }
-    data_disk = {}
+    data_disk: dict[str, Any] = {}
     writeables = determine_writeability(prios, data_eval, data_disk)
     assert writeables == {"writeable": {"config", "enabled"}, "non_writeable": set()}