diff --git a/modules/misc/xdg-autostart.nix b/modules/misc/xdg-autostart.nix
index 4bb58ac9f..8195acb92 100644
--- a/modules/misc/xdg-autostart.nix
+++ b/modules/misc/xdg-autostart.nix
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ in
     };
   };
 
-  config = mkIf (cfg.enable && cfg.entries != [ ]) {
+  config = mkIf (cfg.enable && (cfg.readOnly || cfg.entries != [ ])) {
     xdg.configFile.autostart = {
       source = linkedDesktopEntries;
       recursive = !cfg.readOnly;
diff --git a/tests/modules/misc/xdg/autostart-readonly-empty.nix b/tests/modules/misc/xdg/autostart-readonly-empty.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cb879bc04
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/modules/misc/xdg/autostart-readonly-empty.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+{
+  xdg.autostart = {
+    enable = true;
+    readOnly = true;
+  };
+
+  nmt.script = ''
+    assertLinkExists home-files/.config/autostart
+  '';
+}
diff --git a/tests/modules/misc/xdg/default.nix b/tests/modules/misc/xdg/default.nix
index c73c2e9ab..3a43fa716 100644
--- a/tests/modules/misc/xdg/default.nix
+++ b/tests/modules/misc/xdg/default.nix
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
   xdg-mime-disabled = ./mime-disabled.nix;
   xdg-autostart = ./autostart.nix;
   xdg-autostart-readonly = ./autostart-readonly.nix;
+  xdg-autostart-readonly-empty = ./autostart-readonly-empty.nix;
   xdg-local-bin-in-path = ./local-bin-in-path.nix;
   xdg-local-bin-not-in-path = ./local-bin-not-in-path.nix;
   xdg-user-dirs-mixed = ./user-dirs-mixed.nix;