diff --git a/modules/system/defaults-write.nix b/modules/system/defaults-write.nix
index 7e1fc443..33e918ed 100644
--- a/modules/system/defaults-write.nix
+++ b/modules/system/defaults-write.nix
@@ -107,6 +107,11 @@ in
         ${concatStringsSep "\n" universalaccess}
         ${concatStringsSep "\n" ActivityMonitor}
         ${concatStringsSep "\n" CustomUserPreferences}
+
+        ${optionalString (length dock > 0) ''
+          echo >&2 "restarting Dock..."
+          killall Dock
+        ''}
       '';
 
   };