diff --git a/changelog.d/7528.doc b/changelog.d/7528.doc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6f2a783b50
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/7528.doc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Change the systemd worker service to check that the worker config file exists instead of silently failing. Contributed by David Vo.
diff --git a/docs/systemd-with-workers/system/matrix-synapse-worker@.service b/docs/systemd-with-workers/system/matrix-synapse-worker@.service
index 70589a7a51..39bc5e88e8 100644
--- a/docs/systemd-with-workers/system/matrix-synapse-worker@.service
+++ b/docs/systemd-with-workers/system/matrix-synapse-worker@.service
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [Unit]
 Description=Synapse %i
-
+AssertPathExists=/etc/matrix-synapse/workers/%i.yaml
 # This service should be restarted when the synapse target is restarted.
 PartOf=matrix-synapse.target