diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 8765f99..69ce87b 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -1383,6 +1383,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "rand",
  "redis",
  "reqwest",
+ "sd-notify",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
  "smallvec",
@@ -2039,6 +2040,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "untrusted",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "sd-notify"
+version = "0.4.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "621e3680f3e07db4c9c2c3fb07c6223ab2fab2e54bd3c04c3ae037990f428c32"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "semver"
 version = "0.10.0"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index af2d696..a1ad8ff 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ derivative = "2.2.0"
 nextcloud-config-parser = { version = "0.10.0", features = ["redis-connect"] }
 url = "2.5.0"
 clap = { version = "4.5.4", features = ["derive"] }
+sd-notify = { version = "0.4.1", optional = true }
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 mini-redis = "0.4.1"
@@ -49,3 +50,6 @@ opt-level = 3
 lto = true
 
 [workspace]
+
+[features]
+systemd = ["dep:sd-notify"]
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d8f93d8..0623fbc 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -60,12 +60,15 @@ Documentation=https://github.com/nextcloud/notify_push
 [Service]
 Environment = PORT=7867 # Change if you already have something running on this port
 ExecStart = /path/to/push/binary/notify_push /path/to/nextcloud/config/config.php
+Type=notify # requires the push server to have been build with the systemd feature
 User=www-data
 
 [Install]
 WantedBy = multi-user.target
 ```
 
+If the push server has not been compiled with the optional systemd feature the `Type=notify` line has to be removed.
+
 #### OpenRC
 
 For OpenRC based setups, you can create an OpenRC service by creating a file named `/etc/init.d/notify_push` with the following content.
diff --git a/src/error.rs b/src/error.rs
index 0a17010..68913e0 100644
--- a/src/error.rs
+++ b/src/error.rs
@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@ pub enum Error {
     Authentication(#[from] AuthenticationError),
     #[error("Error while communicating with Nextcloud: {0}")]
     NextCloud(#[from] NextCloudError),
+    #[cfg(feature = "systemd")]
+    #[error("Failed to notify SystemD: {0}")]
+    SystemD(#[from] std::io::Error),
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug, Error, Diagnostic)]
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 20de109..7f24c90 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ use notify_push::error::ConfigError;
 use notify_push::message::DEBOUNCE_ENABLE;
 use notify_push::metrics::serve_metrics;
 use notify_push::{listen_loop, serve, App, Error};
+#[cfg(feature = "systemd")]
+use sd_notify;
 use std::sync::atomic::Ordering;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 use tokio::select;
@@ -97,6 +99,10 @@ async fn run(config: Config, log_handle: LoggerHandle) -> Result<()> {
         )?);
     }
 
+    // tell SystemD that sockets have been bound to their addresses
+    #[cfg(feature = "systemd")]
+    sd_notify::notify(true, &[sd_notify::NotifyState::Ready]).map_err(Error::SystemD)?;
+
     spawn(listen_loop(app, listen_cancel_handle));
 
     // wait for either a sigint or sigterm