diff --git a/examples/conf.d/daemon.conf b/examples/conf.d/daemon.conf
index 38faac96..c7a84122 100644
--- a/examples/conf.d/daemon.conf
+++ b/examples/conf.d/daemon.conf
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 #
 #    ./ovirt-imageio -c examples
 
+[daemon]
+systemd_enable = false
+
 [tls]
 key_file = test/pki/system/key.pem
 cert_file = test/pki/system/cert.pem
diff --git a/ovirt_imageio/_internal/config.py b/ovirt_imageio/_internal/config.py
index 5f96c97d..0ef5a0ff 100644
--- a/ovirt_imageio/_internal/config.py
+++ b/ovirt_imageio/_internal/config.py
@@ -54,6 +54,10 @@ class daemon:
     # configuration.
     group_name = "ovirtimg"
 
+    # Enable systemd integration. Must be enabled when running via the systemd
+    # daemon and disabled otherwise.
+    systemd_enable = True
+
 
 class tls:
 
diff --git a/ovirt_imageio/_internal/server.py b/ovirt_imageio/_internal/server.py
index 92abc027..0be863ab 100644
--- a/ovirt_imageio/_internal/server.py
+++ b/ovirt_imageio/_internal/server.py
@@ -19,8 +19,6 @@
 import socket
 import sys
 
-import systemd.daemon
-
 from . import auth
 from . import config
 from . import errors
@@ -51,7 +49,7 @@ def main():
 
         server.start()
         try:
-            systemd.daemon.notify("READY=1")
+            notify_systemd(cfg)
             log.info("Ready for requests")
             while server.running:
                 signal.pause()
@@ -116,6 +114,13 @@ def configure_logger(cfg):
     logging.config.fileConfig(parser, disable_existing_loggers=False)
 
 
+def notify_systemd(cfg):
+    if cfg.daemon.systemd_enable:
+        log.debug("Notifying systemd")
+        import systemd.daemon
+        systemd.daemon.notify("READY=1")
+
+
 class Server:
 
     def __init__(self, config, ticket=None):
diff --git a/test/conf.d/daemon.conf b/test/conf.d/daemon.conf
index a41225fe..d273f83c 100644
--- a/test/conf.d/daemon.conf
+++ b/test/conf.d/daemon.conf
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@
 #
 #    ./ovirt-imageio -c test
 
+[daemon]
+systemd_enable = false
+
 [tls]
 key_file = test/pki/system/key.pem
 cert_file = test/pki/system/cert.pem
diff --git a/test/conf/daemon.conf b/test/conf/daemon.conf
index 7217db01..bc503733 100644
--- a/test/conf/daemon.conf
+++ b/test/conf/daemon.conf
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 [daemon]
 poll_interval = 0.1
 drop_privileges = false
+systemd_enable = false
 
 [tls]
 key_file = test/pki/system/key.pem
diff --git a/test/conf/proxy.conf b/test/conf/proxy.conf
index 6ef5db98..aa4f5d41 100644
--- a/test/conf/proxy.conf
+++ b/test/conf/proxy.conf
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 [daemon]
 poll_interval = 0.1
 drop_privileges = false
+systemd_enable = false
 
 [tls]
 key_file = test/pki/system/key.pem
diff --git a/test/conf/user-tls.conf b/test/conf/user-tls.conf
index 85db1fa4..16610339 100644
--- a/test/conf/user-tls.conf
+++ b/test/conf/user-tls.conf
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 # Drop-in configuration for testing user-defined PKI certificates.
 
+[daemon]
+systemd_enable = false
+
 [tls]
 key_file = test/pki/user/key.pem
 cert_file = test/pki/user/cert.pem