diff --git a/src/firstboot/firstboot.c b/src/firstboot/firstboot.c
index 5bdeecc96c..6bec3ca651 100644
--- a/src/firstboot/firstboot.c
+++ b/src/firstboot/firstboot.c
@@ -1705,10 +1705,6 @@ static int run(int argc, char *argv[]) {
         if (r < 0)
                 return r;
 
-        r = process_machine_id(rfd);
-        if (r < 0)
-                return r;
-
         r = process_root_account(rfd);
         if (r < 0)
                 return r;
@@ -1717,6 +1713,10 @@ static int run(int argc, char *argv[]) {
         if (r < 0)
                 return r;
 
+        r = process_machine_id(rfd);
+        if (r < 0)
+                return r;
+
         return 0;
 }