diff --git a/daemon/CMakeLists.txt b/daemon/CMakeLists.txt
index 2390458..06712b1 100644
--- a/daemon/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/daemon/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ option(WITH_AVAHI "Include mDNS support via Avahi" OFF)
 option(FAKE_DRIVER "Use fake driver instead of RAVENNA" OFF)
 set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
 
+option(WITH_SYSTEMD "Include systemd notify and watchdog support" OFF)
+
 # ravena lkm _should_ be provided by the CLI. Nonetheless, we should be able
 # to find it in system dirs too...
 if (NOT RAVENNNA_ALSA_LKM_DIR)
@@ -54,3 +56,9 @@ if(WITH_AVAHI)
   include_directories(aes67-daemon ${AVAHI_INCLUDE_DIRS})
   target_link_libraries(aes67-daemon ${AVAHI_LIBRARIES})
 endif()
+
+if(WITH_SYSTEMD)
+	MESSAGE(STATUS "WITH_SYSTEMD")
+	add_definitions(-D_USE_SYSTEMD_)
+	target_link_libraries(aes67-daemon systemd)
+endif()
diff --git a/daemon/main.cpp b/daemon/main.cpp
index b5a99da..98039ec 100644
--- a/daemon/main.cpp
+++ b/daemon/main.cpp
@@ -31,6 +31,10 @@
 #include "rtsp_server.hpp"
 #include "session_manager.hpp"
 
+#ifdef _USE_SYSTEMD_
+#include <systemd/sd-daemon.h>
+#endif
+
 namespace po = boost::program_options;
 namespace postyle = boost::program_options::command_line_style;
 namespace logging = boost::log;
@@ -64,6 +68,11 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
   int unix_style = postyle::unix_style | postyle::short_allow_next;
   bool driver_restart(true);
 
+#ifdef _USE_SYSTEMD_
+  // with which interval we should pet the dog
+  uint64_t current_watchdog_usec;
+#endif
+
   po::variables_map vm;
   try {
     po::store(po::command_line_parser(argc, argv)
@@ -98,6 +107,17 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
 
   std::string filename = vm["config"].as<std::string>();
 
+#ifdef _USE_SYSTEMD_
+  sd_watchdog_enabled(0, &current_watchdog_usec);
+
+  if (current_watchdog_usec > 0) {
+    // Inform systemd that if we're not petting the dog in 5s we're bust.
+    sd_notify(0, "WATCHDOG_USEC=5000000");
+
+    current_watchdog_usec = 5000000;
+  }
+#endif
+
   while (!is_terminated() && rc == EXIT_SUCCESS) {
     /* load configuration from file */
     auto config = Config::parse(filename, driver_restart);
@@ -112,6 +132,11 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
     log_init(*config);
 
     if (config->get_ip_addr_str().empty()) {
+#ifdef _USE_SYSTEMD_
+      if (current_watchdog_usec > 0)
+        sd_notify(0, "WATCHDOG=1");
+      sd_notify(0, "STATUS=no IP address, waiting ...");
+#endif
       BOOST_LOG_TRIVIAL(info) << "main:: no IP address, waiting ...";
       std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::seconds(1));
       continue;
@@ -159,7 +184,22 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
       session_manager->load_status();
 
       BOOST_LOG_TRIVIAL(debug) << "main:: init done, entering loop...";
+
+#ifdef _USE_SYSTEMD_
+      // To be able to use sd_notify at all have to set service NotifyAccess
+      // (e.g. to main)
+      sd_notify(0, "READY=1");  // If service Type=notify the service is only
+                                // considered ready once we send this (this is
+                                // independent of watchdog capability)
+      sd_notify(0, "STATUS=Working");
+#endif
+
       while (!is_terminated()) {
+#ifdef _USE_SYSTEMD_
+        if (current_watchdog_usec > 0)
+          sd_notify(0, "WATCHDOG=1");
+#endif
+
         auto [ip_addr, ip_str] = get_interface_ip(config->get_interface_name());
         if (config->get_ip_addr_str() != ip_str) {
           BOOST_LOG_TRIVIAL(warning)
@@ -175,6 +215,15 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
 
         std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::seconds(1));
       }
+#ifdef _USE_SYSTEMD_
+      if (is_terminated()) {
+        sd_notify(0, "STOPPING=1");
+        sd_notify(0, "STATUS=Stopping");
+      } else {
+        sd_notify(0, "RELOADING=1");
+        sd_notify(0, "STATUS=Restarting");
+      }
+#endif
 
       /* save session status to file */
       session_manager->save_status();
diff --git a/systemd/aes67-daemon.conf b/systemd/aes67-daemon.conf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..12ff58e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/systemd/aes67-daemon.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+#Type Name         ID             GECOS                 Home directory Shell
+u     aes67-daemon -              "AES67 daemon user"
diff --git a/systemd/aes67-daemon.service b/systemd/aes67-daemon.service
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..35c4128
--- /dev/null
+++ b/systemd/aes67-daemon.service
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+[Unit]
+Description=AES67 daemon service
+Before=multi-user.target
+After=network.target
+
+[Service]
+Type=notify
+# Will be adjusted by service during startup
+WatchdogSec=10
+
+# Run as separate user created via sysusers.d
+User=aes67-daemon
+
+ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/aes67-daemon
+
+# Security filters.
+CapabilityBoundingSet=
+DevicePolicy=closed
+LockPersonality=yes
+MemoryDenyWriteExecute=yes
+NoNewPrivileges=yes
+PrivateDevices=yes
+PrivateMounts=yes
+PrivateTmp=yes
+PrivateUsers=yes
+# interface::get_mac_from_arp_cache() reads from /proc/net/arp
+ProcSubset=all
+ProtectClock=yes
+ProtectControlGroups=yes
+ProtectHome=yes
+ProtectHostname=yes
+ProtectKernelLogs=yes
+ProtectKernelModules=yes
+ProtectKernelTunables=yes
+ProtectProc=invisible
+ProtectSystem=strict
+RemoveIPC=yes
+RestrictAddressFamilies=AF_INET AF_NETLINK AF_UNIX
+RestrictNamespaces=yes
+RestrictRealtime=yes
+RestrictSUIDSGID=yes
+SystemCallArchitectures=native
+SystemCallFilter=~@clock
+SystemCallFilter=~@cpu-emulation
+SystemCallFilter=~@debug
+SystemCallFilter=~@module
+SystemCallFilter=~@mount
+SystemCallFilter=~@obsolete
+SystemCallFilter=~@privileged
+SystemCallFilter=~@raw-io
+SystemCallFilter=~@reboot
+SystemCallFilter=~@resources
+SystemCallFilter=~@swap
+UMask=077
+# Paths matching daemon.conf
+ReadWritePaths=/etc/daemon.conf
+ReadWritePaths=/etc/status.json
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=multi-user.target