diff --git a/nixos/modules/private-storage.nix b/nixos/modules/private-storage.nix
index 58d1421721de00ee18ef535c50616dfcf6ce825e..913cceba9dc1110e4d79a29c1301f5b93b9ca317 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/private-storage.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/private-storage.nix
@@ -17,7 +17,10 @@ let
   #
   # NOTE: This is promised by the service privacy policy.  It *may not* be
   # raised without following the process for updating the privacy policy.
-  max-incident-age = toString(cfg.monitoring.policy.logRetentionSeconds) + "s";
+  # Fallback to 29d if "monitoring" attribute is not available (currently
+  # in the system tests)
+  max-incident-age = toString(cfg.monitoring.policy.logRetentionSeconds or
+                              (29 * (24 * 60 * 60))) + "s";
 
   fqdn = "${
     assert config.networking.hostName != null; config.networking.hostName