diff --git a/tmpfiles.d/x11.conf b/tmpfiles.d/x11.conf
index 4c96a54a13..f63184eaa6 100644
--- a/tmpfiles.d/x11.conf
+++ b/tmpfiles.d/x11.conf
@@ -8,11 +8,12 @@
 # See tmpfiles.d(5) for details
 
 # Make sure these are created by default so that nobody else can
-d /tmp/.X11-unix 1777 root root 10d
-d /tmp/.ICE-unix 1777 root root 10d
-d /tmp/.XIM-unix 1777 root root 10d
-d /tmp/.font-unix 1777 root root 10d
-d /tmp/.Test-unix 1777 root root 10d
+# or empty them at startup
+D! /tmp/.X11-unix 1777 root root 10d
+D! /tmp/.ICE-unix 1777 root root 10d
+D! /tmp/.XIM-unix 1777 root root 10d
+D! /tmp/.font-unix 1777 root root 10d
+D! /tmp/.Test-unix 1777 root root 10d
 
 # Unlink the X11 lock files
 r! /tmp/.X[0-9]*-lock