diff --git a/doc/chronyd.adoc b/doc/chronyd.adoc
index 887be48..dfabd3e 100644
--- a/doc/chronyd.adoc
+++ b/doc/chronyd.adoc
@@ -217,6 +217,14 @@ client requests until the service is able to handle them. The service manager
 sets the LISTEN_FDS environment variable to the number of passed file
 descriptors.
 
+*NOTIFY_SOCKET*::
+The systemd service manager sets this variable for services of the *notify*
+type. *chronyd* sends a message to this socket when it it is fully initialised
+and ready to accept commands (e.g. from *chronyc*), with the clock already set
+if using the *-s* option or *initstepslew* directive. It is an alternative to
+the *forking* service type, which does not need the PID file. *chronyd* needs
+to be started with the *-n* or *-d* option to not fork.
+
 == FILES
 
 _@SYSCONFDIR@/chrony.conf_
diff --git a/examples/chronyd-restricted.service b/examples/chronyd-restricted.service
index 30ba7d9..1894621 100644
--- a/examples/chronyd-restricted.service
+++ b/examples/chronyd-restricted.service
@@ -12,10 +12,10 @@ Conflicts=chronyd.service ntpd.service systemd-timesyncd.service
 ConditionCapability=CAP_SYS_TIME
 
 [Service]
-Type=forking
+Type=notify
 PIDFile=/run/chrony/chronyd.pid
 EnvironmentFile=-/etc/sysconfig/chronyd
-ExecStart=/usr/sbin/chronyd -U $OPTIONS
+ExecStart=/usr/sbin/chronyd -n -U $OPTIONS
 
 User=chrony
 LogsDirectory=chrony
diff --git a/examples/chronyd.service b/examples/chronyd.service
index a42eb92..e322454 100644
--- a/examples/chronyd.service
+++ b/examples/chronyd.service
@@ -6,10 +6,10 @@ Conflicts=ntpd.service systemd-timesyncd.service
 ConditionCapability=CAP_SYS_TIME
 
 [Service]
-Type=forking
+Type=notify
 PIDFile=/run/chrony/chronyd.pid
 EnvironmentFile=-/etc/sysconfig/chronyd
-ExecStart=/usr/sbin/chronyd $OPTIONS
+ExecStart=/usr/sbin/chronyd -n $OPTIONS
 
 CapabilityBoundingSet=~CAP_AUDIT_CONTROL CAP_AUDIT_READ CAP_AUDIT_WRITE
 CapabilityBoundingSet=~CAP_BLOCK_SUSPEND CAP_KILL CAP_LEASE CAP_LINUX_IMMUTABLE
diff --git a/main.c b/main.c
index 864dec2..bf9c66b 100644
--- a/main.c
+++ b/main.c
@@ -107,11 +107,40 @@ delete_pidfile(void)
 
 /* ================================================== */
 
+static void
+notify_system_manager(int start)
+{
+#ifdef LINUX
+  /* The systemd protocol is documented in the sd_notify(3) man page */
+  const char *message, *path = getenv("NOTIFY_SOCKET");
+  int sock_fd;
+
+  if (!path)
+    return;
+
+  if (path[0] != '/')
+    LOG_FATAL("Unsupported notification socket");
+
+  message = start ? "READY=1" : "STOPPING=1";
+
+  sock_fd = SCK_OpenUnixDatagramSocket(path, NULL, 0);
+
+  if (sock_fd < 0 || SCK_Send(sock_fd, message, strlen(message), 0) != strlen(message))
+    LOG_FATAL("Could not send notification");
+
+  SCK_CloseSocket(sock_fd);
+#endif
+}
+
+/* ================================================== */
+
 void
 MAI_CleanupAndExit(void)
 {
   if (!initialised) exit(exit_status);
   
+  notify_system_manager(0);
+
   LCL_CancelOffsetCorrection();
   SRC_DumpSources();
 
@@ -215,6 +244,8 @@ post_init_ntp_hook(void *anything)
     REF_SetMode(ref_mode);
   }
 
+  notify_system_manager(1);
+
   /* Send an empty message to the foreground process so it can exit.
      If that fails, indicating the process was killed, exit too. */
   if (!LOG_NotifyParent(""))