diff --git a/nixos/modules/system/boot/loader/systemd-boot/systemd-boot-builder.py b/nixos/modules/system/boot/loader/systemd-boot/systemd-boot-builder.py
index 7134b4321630e..176810ba97916 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/system/boot/loader/systemd-boot/systemd-boot-builder.py
+++ b/nixos/modules/system/boot/loader/systemd-boot/systemd-boot-builder.py
@@ -162,7 +162,8 @@ def remove_old_entries(gens: List[Tuple[Optional[str], int]]) -> None:
             else:
                 prof = "system"
             gen_number = int(rex_generation.sub(r"\1", path))
-            if not (prof, gen_number) in gens:
+            profile = prof if prof != "system" else None
+            if not (profile, gen_number) in gens:
                 os.unlink(path)
         except ValueError:
             pass
@@ -241,7 +242,7 @@ def main() -> None:
             if os.readlink(system_dir(*gen)) == args.default_config:
                 write_loader_conf(*gen)
         except OSError as e:
-            print("ignoring profile '{}' in the list of boot entries because of the following error:\n{}".format(profile, e), file=sys.stderr)
+            print("ignoring profile '{}' in the list of boot entries because of the following error:\n{}".format(gen[0] if gen[0] else "system", e), file=sys.stderr)
 
     memtest_entry_file = "@efiSysMountPoint@/loader/entries/memtest86.conf"
     if os.path.exists(memtest_entry_file):