diff --git a/debian/control.in b/debian/control.in
index 24d50811..0a4992ae 100644
--- a/debian/control.in
+++ b/debian/control.in
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Priority: extra
 Maintainer: IO <io@spotify.com>
 Build-Depends:
  debhelper,
+ dh-systemd,
  default-jdk (>= 1.8),
  maven3 | maven (>= 3)
 Standards-Version: 3.9.1
diff --git a/debian/ffwd.service.in b/debian/ffwd.service.in
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..36ffed05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/debian/ffwd.service.in
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+[Unit]
+Description=fast-forward monitoring agent
+Documentation=https://github.com/spotify/ffwd
+
+[Service]
+ExecStart=/usr/bin/ffwd-RELEASE /etc/ffwd/ffwd-RELEASE.yaml
+ExecStopPost=/bin/sleep 10
+Restart=on-failure
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=multi-user.target
diff --git a/debian/rules.in b/debian/rules.in
index 568800bf..b30730ad 100755
--- a/debian/rules.in
+++ b/debian/rules.in
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ FFWD=$(BUILD)/ffwd-RELEASE
 DEB_VERSION:=$(shell dpkg-parsechangelog | egrep '^Version:' | cut -f 2 -d ' ')
 
 %:
-	dh $@
+	dh $@ --with=systemd
 
 override_dh_auto_clean:
 	rm -rf $(BUILD)