diff --git a/modules/misc/tmpfiles.nix b/modules/misc/tmpfiles.nix
index 82b791d89..9403f7d85 100644
--- a/modules/misc/tmpfiles.nix
+++ b/modules/misc/tmpfiles.nix
@@ -89,6 +89,46 @@ let
     }
   );
 
+  attrsWith' = placeholder: elemType: lib.types.attrsWith { inherit elemType placeholder; };
+
+  nonEmptyAttrsWith' =
+    placeholder: elemType:
+    let
+      attrs = lib.types.addCheck (attrsWith' placeholder elemType) (s: s != { });
+    in
+    attrs
+    // {
+      name = "nonEmptyAttrsOf";
+      description = "non-empty ${attrs.description}";
+      emptyValue = { }; # no .value attribute, meaning there is not empty value
+      substSubModules = m: nonEmptyAttrsWith' placeholder (elemType.substSubModules m);
+    };
+
+  configSubmodule = lib.types.submodule {
+    options.rules = lib.mkOption {
+      description = "The rules contained in this configuration.";
+      example = {
+        "%C".d = {
+          mode = "0755";
+          user = "alice";
+          group = "alice";
+          age = "4 weeks";
+        };
+      };
+      type = nonEmptyAttrsWith' "path" (nonEmptyAttrsWith' "tmpfiles-type" ruleSubmodule);
+    };
+    options.purgeOnChange = lib.mkOption {
+      description = ''
+        Whether the rules that are marked for purging, will automatically
+        be purged when the set of rules changes.
+
+        See {manpage}`systemd-tmpfiles(8)` for details about purging.
+      '';
+      type = lib.types.bool;
+      default = false;
+    };
+  };
+
   modulePrefix = [
     "systemd"
     "user"
@@ -100,6 +140,9 @@ let
 
   mkConfigFile =
     name: rules:
+    {
+      suffix ? [ name ],
+    }:
     let
       escapeArgument = lib.strings.escapeC [
         "\t"
@@ -115,7 +158,7 @@ let
     {
       text = ''
         # This file was generated by Home Manager and should not be modified.
-        # Please change the option '${lib.showAttrPath (modulePrefix ++ [ name ])}' instead.
+        # Please change the option '${lib.showAttrPath (modulePrefix ++ suffix)}' instead.
         ${lib.pipe rules [
           (lib.mapAttrs (_path: lib.attrValues))
           (lib.mapAttrsToList (path: map (mkRule path)))
@@ -128,6 +171,13 @@ let
       '';
     };
 
+  nonPurgedConfigs = lib.filterAttrs (_name: config: !config.purgeOnChange) cfg.settings;
+  purgedConfigs = lib.filterAttrs (_name: config: config.purgeOnChange) cfg.settings;
+
+  # WARNING: When changing this path, the next home-manager generation will
+  # not find and the rules of the old generation that are subject to purging.
+  purgedRulesConfigName = "purge-on-change";
+
 in
 {
   meta.maintainers = [ lib.maintainers.dawidsowa ];
@@ -147,7 +197,7 @@ in
       persistent files.
     '';
     example = {
-      cache."%C".d = {
+      cache.rules."%C".d = {
         mode = "0755";
         user = "alice";
         group = "alice";
@@ -155,58 +205,70 @@ in
       };
     };
     default = { };
-    type =
-      let
-        attrsWith' = placeholder: elemType: lib.types.attrsWith { inherit elemType placeholder; };
-        nonEmptyAttrsWith' =
-          placeholder: elemType:
-          let
-            attrs = lib.types.addCheck (attrsWith' placeholder elemType) (s: s != { });
-          in
-          attrs
-          // {
-            name = "nonEmptyAttrsOf";
-            description = "non-empty ${attrs.description}";
-            emptyValue = { }; # no .value attribute, meaning there is not empty value
-            substSubModules = m: nonEmptyAttrsWith' placeholder (elemType.substSubModules m);
-          };
-      in
-      attrsWith' "config-name" (
-        nonEmptyAttrsWith' "path" (nonEmptyAttrsWith' "tmpfiles-type" ruleSubmodule)
+    type = attrsWith' "config-name" configSubmodule;
+  };
+
+  config = lib.mkMerge [
+
+    (lib.mkIf pkgs.stdenv.hostPlatform.isLinux {
+      # The activation script must be enabled unconditionally in order to
+      # guarantee that the old rules are purged even if the new set of rules
+      # is empty, i.e. `cfg.rulesToPurgeOnChange == [ ]`.
+      home.activation.purgeTmpfiles = lib.hm.dag.entryAfter [ "writeBoundary" ] (
+        let
+          relativeXdgConfigHome = lib.strings.removePrefix "${config.home.homeDirectory}/" config.xdg.configHome;
+          configPath = "home-files/${relativeXdgConfigHome}/${purgedRulesConfigName}";
+        in
+        ''
+          if [[ -v oldGenPath && -f $oldGenPath/${configPath} ]] &&
+              diff -q $oldGenPath/${configPath} $newGenPath/${configPath} &>/dev/null; then
+            verboseEcho "Purge old tmpfiles"
+            run ${pkgs.systemd}/bin/systemd-tmpfiles --user --purge ''${DRY_RUN:+--dry-run} $oldGenPath/${configPath}
+          fi
+        ''
       );
-  };
+    })
 
-  config = lib.mkIf (cfg.settings != { }) {
-    assertions = [
-      (lib.hm.assertions.assertPlatform "systemd.user.tmpfiles" pkgs lib.platforms.linux)
-    ];
+    (lib.mkIf (cfg.settings != { }) {
+      assertions = [
+        (lib.hm.assertions.assertPlatform "systemd.user.tmpfiles" pkgs lib.platforms.linux)
+      ];
 
-    warnings = lib.flatten (
-      lib.mapAttrsToListRecursive (
-        path: value:
-        lib.optional
-          (lib.last path == "argument" && lib.match ''.*\\([nrt]|x[0-9A-Fa-f]{2}).*'' value != null)
-          ''
-            The '${lib.showAttrPath (modulePrefix ++ path)}' option
-            appears to contain escape sequences, which will be escaped again.
-            Unescape them if this is not intended. The assigned string is:
-              "${value}"
-          ''
-      ) cfg.settings
-    );
+      warnings = lib.flatten (
+        lib.mapAttrsToListRecursive (
+          path: value:
+          lib.optional
+            (lib.last path == "argument" && lib.match ''.*\\([nrt]|x[0-9A-Fa-f]{2}).*'' value != null)
+            ''
+              The '${lib.showAttrPath (modulePrefix ++ path)}' option
+              appears to contain escape sequences, which will be escaped again.
+              Unescape them if this is not intended. The assigned string is:
+                "${value}"
+            ''
+        ) cfg.settings
+      );
 
-    xdg.configFile = {
-      "systemd/user/basic.target.wants/systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service".source =
-        "${pkgs.systemd}/example/systemd/user/systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service";
-      "systemd/user/systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service".source =
-        "${pkgs.systemd}/example/systemd/user/systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service";
-      "systemd/user/timers.target.wants/systemd-tmpfiles-clean.timer".source =
-        "${pkgs.systemd}/example/systemd/user/systemd-tmpfiles-clean.timer";
-      "systemd/user/systemd-tmpfiles-clean.service".source =
-        "${pkgs.systemd}/example/systemd/user/systemd-tmpfiles-clean.service";
-    }
-    // lib.mapAttrs' (
-      name: rules: lib.nameValuePair (mkFileName name) (mkConfigFile name rules)
-    ) cfg.settings;
-  };
+      xdg.configFile = {
+        "systemd/user/basic.target.wants/systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service".source =
+          "${pkgs.systemd}/example/systemd/user/systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service";
+        "systemd/user/systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service".source =
+          "${pkgs.systemd}/example/systemd/user/systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service";
+        "systemd/user/timers.target.wants/systemd-tmpfiles-clean.timer".source =
+          "${pkgs.systemd}/example/systemd/user/systemd-tmpfiles-clean.timer";
+        "systemd/user/systemd-tmpfiles-clean.service".source =
+          "${pkgs.systemd}/example/systemd/user/systemd-tmpfiles-clean.service";
+      }
+      // lib.mapAttrs' (
+        name: config: lib.nameValuePair (mkFileName name) (mkConfigFile name config.rules { })
+      ) nonPurgedConfigs
+      // lib.optionalAttrs (purgedConfigs != { }) {
+        ${mkFileName purgedRulesConfigName} =
+          let
+            purgedConfigsMerged = lib.foldl' lib.recursiveUpdate { } (lib.attrValues purgedConfigs);
+          in
+          mkConfigFile purgedRulesConfigName purgedConfigsMerged.rules { suffix = [ ]; };
+      };
+    })
+
+  ];
 }
diff --git a/modules/programs/glab.nix b/modules/programs/glab.nix
index 1aac3c004..16ff2a86f 100644
--- a/modules/programs/glab.nix
+++ b/modules/programs/glab.nix
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ in
     # Use `systemd-tmpfiles` since glab requires its configuration file to have
     # mode 0600.
     systemd.user.tmpfiles.settings.glab = lib.mkIf (cfg.settings != { }) {
-      "${config.xdg.configHome}/glab-cli/config.yml" = {
+      rules."${config.xdg.configHome}/glab-cli/config.yml" = {
         "C+".argument = yaml.generate "glab-config" cfg.settings;
         z.mode = "0600";
       };
diff --git a/tests/integration/standalone/rclone/sops-nix.nix b/tests/integration/standalone/rclone/sops-nix.nix
index a7baf0614..fc676505e 100644
--- a/tests/integration/standalone/rclone/sops-nix.nix
+++ b/tests/integration/standalone/rclone/sops-nix.nix
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ in
       uid = 1000;
     };
 
-    systemd.tmpfiles.settings.age."/home/alice/age-key".f = {
+    systemd.tmpfiles.settings.age.rules."/home/alice/age-key".f = {
       mode = "400";
       user = "alice";
       group = "users";
diff --git a/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/basic-rules.nix b/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/basic-rules.nix
index 30a451737..68b00f87b 100644
--- a/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/basic-rules.nix
+++ b/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/basic-rules.nix
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
   imports = [ ./common-stubs.nix ];
 
   systemd.user.tmpfiles.settings = {
-    cache."%C".d.age = "4 weeks";
-    myTool."%h/.config/myTool.conf"."f+" = {
+    cache.rules."%C".d.age = "4 weeks";
+    myTool.rules."%h/.config/myTool.conf"."f+" = {
       mode = "0644";
       user = "alice";
       group = "users";
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@
   };
 
   nmt.script = ''
+    assertPathNotExists home-files/.config/user-tmpfiles.d/home-manager-purge-on-change.conf
+
     cacheRulesFile=home-files/.config/user-tmpfiles.d/home-manager-cache.conf
     assertFileExists $cacheRulesFile
     assertFileRegex $cacheRulesFile "^'d' '%C' '-' '-' '-' '4 weeks' $"
diff --git a/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/default.nix b/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/default.nix
index 1caa5fc7e..608796fe9 100644
--- a/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/default.nix
+++ b/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/default.nix
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 {
   tmpfiles-no-rules = ./no-rules.nix;
   tmpfiles-basic-rules = ./basic-rules.nix;
+  tmpfiles-rules-with-purging = ./rules-with-purging.nix;
 
   tmpfiles-escaped-argument-warning = ./escaped-argument-warning.nix;
 }
diff --git a/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/escaped-argument-warning.nix b/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/escaped-argument-warning.nix
index 9284de3c8..0a7441b7e 100644
--- a/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/escaped-argument-warning.nix
+++ b/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/escaped-argument-warning.nix
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 {
   imports = [ ./common-stubs.nix ];
 
-  systemd.user.tmpfiles.settings.foo.path.f.argument = "my\\x20unescaped\\x20config";
+  systemd.user.tmpfiles.settings.foo.rules.path.f.argument = "my\\x20unescaped\\x20config";
 
   test.asserts.warnings.expected = [
     ''
-      The 'systemd.user.tmpfiles.settings.foo.path.f.argument' option
+      The 'systemd.user.tmpfiles.settings.foo.rules.path.f.argument' option
       appears to contain escape sequences, which will be escaped again.
       Unescape them if this is not intended. The assigned string is:
         "my\x20unescaped\x20config"
diff --git a/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/rules-with-purging.nix b/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/rules-with-purging.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a453bfcb6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/modules/misc/tmpfiles/rules-with-purging.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+{
+  imports = [ ./common-stubs.nix ];
+
+  systemd.user.tmpfiles.settings = {
+    cache.rules."%C".d.age = "4 weeks";
+    myTool = {
+      rules = {
+        "%h/.config/myTool.conf"."f+".argument = "my_config";
+        "%h/.config/myToolPurged.conf"."f+$".argument = "my_config_purged";
+      };
+      purgeOnChange = true;
+    };
+  };
+
+  nmt.script = ''
+    cacheRulesFile=home-files/.config/user-tmpfiles.d/home-manager-cache.conf
+    assertFileExists $cacheRulesFile
+    assertFileRegex $cacheRulesFile "^'d' '%C' '-' '-' '-' '4 weeks' $"
+
+    assertPathNotExists home-files/.config/user-tmpfiles.d/home-manager-myTool.conf
+    myToolRulesFile=home-files/.config/user-tmpfiles.d/home-manager-purge-on-change.conf
+    assertFileExists $myToolRulesFile
+    assertFileRegex $myToolRulesFile \
+      "^'f+' '%h/.config/myTool.conf' '-' '-' '-' '-' my_config$"
+    assertFileRegex $myToolRulesFile \
+      "^'f+$' '%h/.config/myToolPurged.conf' '-' '-' '-' '-' my_config_purged$"
+  '';
+}