diff --git a/live-build/functions b/live-build/functions
index 1e81de9b..a3cbadfd 100644
--- a/live-build/functions
+++ b/live-build/functions
@@ -999,7 +999,7 @@ configure_network_manager() {
     # default. Installing NM on an existing system only manages wifi and wwan via
     # /usr/lib/NetworkManager/conf.d/10-globally-managed-devices.conf. When setting
     # the global backend to NM, netplan overrides that file.
-    if [ -e chroot/usr/sbin/NetworkManager -a ! -f chroot/etc/netplan/01-network-manager-all.yaml ]; then
+    if [ -e chroot/usr/sbin/NetworkManager -a ! -f chroot/etc/netplan/01-network-manager-all.yaml -a "$SUBPROJECT" != "desktop-preinstalled" ]; then
         echo "===== Enabling all devices in NetworkManager ===="
         mkdir -p chroot/etc/netplan
         cat <<EOF > chroot/etc/netplan/01-network-manager-all.yaml