diff --git a/daemon/main.c b/daemon/main.c
index 9075461b1..a518a206c 100644
--- a/daemon/main.c
+++ b/daemon/main.c
@@ -817,6 +817,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
 			rtpe_config.num_threads = 4;
 	}
 
+	service_notify("READY=1\n");
+
 	for (;idx<rtpe_config.num_threads;++idx) {
 		thread_create_detach_prio(poller_loop, rtpe_poller, rtpe_config.scheduling, rtpe_config.priority);
 	}
@@ -826,6 +828,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
 		threads_join_all(0);
 	}
 
+	service_notify("STOPPING=1\n");
+
 	if (!is_addr_unspecified(&rtpe_config.redis_ep.address)) {
 		redis_notify_event_base_action(EVENT_BASE_LOOPBREAK);
 		redis_notify_event_base_action(EVENT_BASE_FREE);
diff --git a/debian/control b/debian/control
index 51e9ad3ae..230e1e4cb 100644
--- a/debian/control
+++ b/debian/control
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ Build-Depends:
  libpcre3-dev,
  libssl-dev (>= 1.0.1),
  libswresample-dev (>= 6:10),
+ libsystemd-dev,
  libxmlrpc-c3-dev (>= 1.16.07) | libxmlrpc-core-c3-dev (>= 1.16.07),
  markdown,
  zlib1g-dev,
diff --git a/debian/ngcp-rtpengine-daemon.service b/debian/ngcp-rtpengine-daemon.service
index f937f65ec..9046376a4 100644
--- a/debian/ngcp-rtpengine-daemon.service
+++ b/debian/ngcp-rtpengine-daemon.service
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ After=remote-fs.target
 Requires=network-online.target
 
 [Service]
-Type=simple
+Type=notify
 EnvironmentFile=/etc/default/ngcp-rtpengine-daemon
 PIDFile=/var/run/ngcp-rtpengine-daemon.pid
 ExecStartPre=/usr/sbin/ngcp-rtpengine-iptables-setup start
diff --git a/debian/ngcp-rtpengine-recording-daemon.service b/debian/ngcp-rtpengine-recording-daemon.service
index ee0f9f605..e2e4ed319 100644
--- a/debian/ngcp-rtpengine-recording-daemon.service
+++ b/debian/ngcp-rtpengine-recording-daemon.service
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ Requires=network-online.target
 Requires=ngcp-rtpengine-recording-nfs-mount.service
 
 [Service]
-Type=simple
+Type=notify
 PIDFile=/run/ngcp-rtpengine-recording-daemon.pid
 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/rtpengine-recording -f -E --pidfile /run/ngcp-rtpengine-recording-daemon.pid --config-file /etc/rtpengine/rtpengine-recording.conf
 
diff --git a/lib/auxlib.c b/lib/auxlib.c
index 3eecdb206..485dece91 100644
--- a/lib/auxlib.c
+++ b/lib/auxlib.c
@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@
 #include <string.h>
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <inttypes.h>
+#ifdef HAVE_LIBSYSTEMD
+#include <systemd/sd-daemon.h>
+#endif
 #include "log.h"
 #include "loglib.h"
 
@@ -43,6 +46,12 @@ void wpidfile() {
 	fclose(fp);
 }
 
+void service_notify(const char *message) {
+#ifdef HAVE_LIBSYSTEMD
+	sd_notify(0, message);
+#endif
+}
+
 
 static unsigned int options_length(const GOptionEntry *arr) {
 	unsigned int len = 0;
diff --git a/lib/auxlib.h b/lib/auxlib.h
index 12dec6efc..395fee1be 100644
--- a/lib/auxlib.h
+++ b/lib/auxlib.h
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ extern struct rtpengine_common_config *rtpe_common_config_ptr;
 
 void daemonize(void);
 void wpidfile(void);
+void service_notify(const char *message);
 void config_load(int *argc, char ***argv, GOptionEntry *entries, const char *description,
 		char *default_config, char *default_section,
 		struct rtpengine_common_config *);
diff --git a/lib/lib.Makefile b/lib/lib.Makefile
index 77a9b705d..728a11aeb 100644
--- a/lib/lib.Makefile
+++ b/lib/lib.Makefile
@@ -25,6 +25,15 @@ ifeq ($(RTPENGINE_VERSION),)
 endif
 CFLAGS+=	-DRTPENGINE_VERSION="\"$(RTPENGINE_VERSION)\""
 
+# look for libsystemd
+ifeq ($(shell pkg-config --exists libsystemd && echo yes),yes)
+have_libsystemd := yes
+endif
+ifeq ($(have_libsystemd),yes)
+CFLAGS+=	$(shell pkg-config --cflags libsystemd)
+CFLAGS+=	-DHAVE_LIBSYSTEMD
+LDLIBS+=	$(shell pkg-config --libs libsystemd)
+endif
 
 ifeq ($(DBG),yes)
 CFLAGS+=	-D__DEBUG=1
diff --git a/recording-daemon/main.c b/recording-daemon/main.c
index 936e64fc0..0aadf3521 100644
--- a/recording-daemon/main.c
+++ b/recording-daemon/main.c
@@ -188,11 +188,14 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
 	daemonize();
 	wpidfile();
 
+	service_notify("READY=1\n");
+
 	for (int i = 0; i < num_threads; i++)
 		start_poller_thread();
 
 	wait_for_signal();
 
+	service_notify("STOPPING=1\n");
 	dbg("shutting down");
 
 	wait_threads_finish();