diff --git a/backend/go.mod b/backend/go.mod
index fd535ed1..06f12696 100644
--- a/backend/go.mod
+++ b/backend/go.mod
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/aws/smithy-go v1.25.1
 	github.com/caarlos0/env/v11 v11.4.1
 	github.com/cenkalti/backoff/v5 v5.0.3
+	github.com/coreos/go-systemd v0.0.0-20191104093116-d3cd4ed1dbcf
 	github.com/disintegration/imageorient v0.0.0-20180920195336-8147d86e83ec
 	github.com/disintegration/imaging v1.6.2
 	github.com/dunglas/go-urlpattern v0.0.0-20241020164140-716dfa1c80b1
diff --git a/backend/go.sum b/backend/go.sum
index 39cbd15f..917097ed 100644
--- a/backend/go.sum
+++ b/backend/go.sum
@@ -65,6 +65,8 @@ github.com/containerd/errdefs v1.0.0 h1:tg5yIfIlQIrxYtu9ajqY42W3lpS19XqdxRQeEwYG
 github.com/containerd/errdefs v1.0.0/go.mod h1:+YBYIdtsnF4Iw6nWZhJcqGSg/dwvV7tyJ/kCkyJ2k+M=
 github.com/containerd/errdefs/pkg v0.3.0 h1:9IKJ06FvyNlexW690DXuQNx2KA2cUJXx151Xdx3ZPPE=
 github.com/containerd/errdefs/pkg v0.3.0/go.mod h1:NJw6s9HwNuRhnjJhM7pylWwMyAkmCQvQ4GpJHEqRLVk=
+github.com/coreos/go-systemd v0.0.0-20191104093116-d3cd4ed1dbcf h1:iW4rZ826su+pqaw19uhpSCzhj44qo35pNgKFGqzDKkU=
+github.com/coreos/go-systemd v0.0.0-20191104093116-d3cd4ed1dbcf/go.mod h1:F5haX7vjVVG0kc13fIWeqUViNPyEJxv/OmvnBo0Yme4=
 github.com/cpuguy83/go-md2man/v2 v2.0.6/go.mod h1:oOW0eioCTA6cOiMLiUPZOpcVxMig6NIQQ7OS05n1F4g=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.0/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
diff --git a/backend/internal/bootstrap/router_bootstrap.go b/backend/internal/bootstrap/router_bootstrap.go
index f8e40b0d..96a8eabb 100644
--- a/backend/internal/bootstrap/router_bootstrap.go
+++ b/backend/internal/bootstrap/router_bootstrap.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 	"sync/atomic"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/coreos/go-systemd/activation"
 	"github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify"
 	sloggin "github.com/gin-contrib/slog"
 	"github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
@@ -163,24 +164,25 @@ func initServer(r *gin.Engine) (*serverConfig, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	network, addr := listenerNetworkAndAddr()
-	listener, err := net.Listen(network, addr) //nolint:noctx
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to create %s listener: %w", network, err)
+	var socketFn func() (*socket, error)
+	if common.EnvConfig.SystemdSocket {
+		socketFn = systemdSocket
+	} else if common.EnvConfig.UnixSocket != "" {
+		socketFn = unixSocket
+	} else {
+		socketFn = tcpSocket
 	}
 
-	if err := setUnixSocketMode(network, addr); err != nil {
-		listener.Close()
+	socket, err := socketFn()
+	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	return &serverConfig{
-		addr:         addr,
-		certProvider: certProvider,
-		listener:     listener,
-		server:       newHTTPServer(r, protocols),
-		tlsConfig:    tlsConfig,
-	}, nil
+	addr := socket.addr
+	listener := socket.listener
+	server := newHTTPServer(r, protocols)
+
+	return &serverConfig{addr, certProvider, listener, server, tlsConfig}, nil
 }
 
 func initServerProtocols() (*http.Protocols, *tls.Config, *tlsCertProvider, error) {
@@ -208,6 +210,64 @@ func initServerProtocols() (*http.Protocols, *tls.Config, *tlsCertProvider, erro
 	return protocols, tlsConfig, certProvider, nil
 }
 
+type socket struct {
+	addr     string
+	listener net.Listener
+}
+
+func systemdSocket() (*socket, error) {
+	listeners, err := activation.Listeners()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to receive socket from systemd: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	if len(listeners) == 0 {
+		return nil, errors.New("did not receive any sockets from systemd")
+	}
+
+	if len(listeners) > 1 {
+		return nil, errors.New("received too many sockets from systemd")
+	}
+
+	return &socket{"(systemd)", listeners[0]}, nil
+}
+
+func unixSocket() (*socket, error) {
+	addr := common.EnvConfig.UnixSocket
+	os.Remove(addr) // remove dangling the socket file to avoid file-exist error
+
+	listener, err := net.Listen("unix", addr) //nolint:noctx
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to create UNIX socket: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	if common.EnvConfig.UnixSocketMode != "" {
+		mode, err := strconv.ParseUint(common.EnvConfig.UnixSocketMode, 8, 32)
+		if err != nil {
+			listener.Close()
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to parse UNIX socket mode '%s': %w", common.EnvConfig.UnixSocketMode, err)
+		}
+
+		if err := os.Chmod(addr, os.FileMode(mode)); err != nil {
+			listener.Close()
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to set UNIX socket mode '%s': %w", common.EnvConfig.UnixSocketMode, err)
+		}
+	}
+
+	return &socket{addr, listener}, nil
+}
+
+func tcpSocket() (*socket, error) {
+	addr := net.JoinHostPort(common.EnvConfig.Host, common.EnvConfig.Port)
+
+	listener, err := net.Listen("tcp", addr) //nolint:noctx
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to create TCP socket: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	return &socket{addr, listener}, nil
+}
+
 func newHTTPServer(r *gin.Engine, protocols *http.Protocols) *http.Server {
 	return &http.Server{
 		MaxHeaderBytes:    1 << 20,
@@ -227,33 +287,6 @@ func newHTTPServer(r *gin.Engine, protocols *http.Protocols) *http.Server {
 	}
 }
 
-func listenerNetworkAndAddr() (string, string) {
-	if common.EnvConfig.UnixSocket == "" {
-		return "tcp", net.JoinHostPort(common.EnvConfig.Host, common.EnvConfig.Port)
-	}
-
-	addr := common.EnvConfig.UnixSocket
-	os.Remove(addr) // remove dangling the socket file to avoid file-exist error
-	return "unix", addr
-}
-
-func setUnixSocketMode(network, addr string) error {
-	if network != "unix" || common.EnvConfig.UnixSocketMode == "" {
-		return nil
-	}
-
-	mode, err := strconv.ParseUint(common.EnvConfig.UnixSocketMode, 8, 32)
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to parse UNIX socket mode '%s': %w", common.EnvConfig.UnixSocketMode, err)
-	}
-
-	if err := os.Chmod(addr, os.FileMode(mode)); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to set UNIX socket mode '%s': %w", common.EnvConfig.UnixSocketMode, err)
-	}
-
-	return nil
-}
-
 func runServer(ctx context.Context, config *serverConfig) error {
 	slog.Info("Server listening", slog.String("addr", config.addr), slog.Bool("tls", config.tlsConfig != nil))
 
diff --git a/backend/internal/common/env_config.go b/backend/internal/common/env_config.go
index 82a421f4..fa4f3f0c 100644
--- a/backend/internal/common/env_config.go
+++ b/backend/internal/common/env_config.go
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ type EnvConfigSchema struct {
 	Host            string `env:"HOST" options:"toLower"`
 	UnixSocket      string `env:"UNIX_SOCKET"`
 	UnixSocketMode  string `env:"UNIX_SOCKET_MODE"`
+	SystemdSocket   bool   `env:"SYSTEMD_SOCKET"`
 	LocalIPv6Ranges string `env:"LOCAL_IPV6_RANGES"`
 
 	TLSCertFile string `env:"TLS_CERT" options:"file"`
@@ -153,6 +154,9 @@ func ValidateEnvConfig(config *EnvConfigSchema) error {
 	if err := validateFileBackend(config); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	if config.SystemdSocket && config.UnixSocket != "" {
+		return errors.New("SYSTEMD_SOCKET and UNIX_SOCKET are mutually exclusive")
+	}
 	if err := validateLocalIPv6Ranges(config.LocalIPv6Ranges); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}