diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 5bbc2ac..c09d7d7 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -340,6 +340,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "nix",
  "num-derive",
  "num-traits",
+ "sd-notify",
  "slog",
  "slog-async",
  "slog-term",
@@ -544,6 +545,12 @@ version = "1.1.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "d29ab0c6d3fc0ee92fe66e2d99f700eab17a8d57d1c1d3b748380fb20baa78cd"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "sd-notify"
+version = "0.4.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "621e3680f3e07db4c9c2c3fb07c6223ab2fab2e54bd3c04c3ae037990f428c32"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "semver"
 version = "1.0.4"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index d9f6ec4..0eda54c 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ crossbeam-channel = "^0.5"
 nix = "^0.21.2"
 num-derive = "^0.3"
 num-traits = "^0.2"
+sd-notify = "0.4.1"
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 criterion = "^0.3"
diff --git a/nsncd.service b/nsncd.service
index 7f6c3d0..99af01d 100644
--- a/nsncd.service
+++ b/nsncd.service
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ Description=name-service non-caching daemon
 [Service]
 ExecStart=/usr/lib/nsncd
 Restart=always
+Type=notify
 
 [Install]
 WantedBy=multi-user.target
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index a1d7c3a..76e4a8e 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ use std::time::Duration;
 
 use anyhow::{Context, Result};
 use crossbeam_channel as channel;
+use sd_notify::NotifyState;
 use slog::{debug, error, o, Drain};
 
 mod ffi;
@@ -83,7 +84,6 @@ fn main() -> Result<()> {
         "worker_count" => worker_count,
         "handoff_timeout" => ?handoff_timeout,
     );
-
     let mut wg = WorkGroup::new();
     let tx = spawn_workers(&mut wg, &logger, worker_count);
 
@@ -93,6 +93,8 @@ fn main() -> Result<()> {
     std::fs::set_permissions(path, std::fs::Permissions::from_mode(0o777))?;
     spawn_acceptor(&mut wg, &logger, listener, tx, handoff_timeout);
 
+    let _ = sd_notify::notify(true, &[NotifyState::Ready]);
+
     let (result, handles) = wg.run();
     if let Err(e) = result {
         // if a thread unwound with a panic, just start panicing here. the nss