diff --git a/pkgs/servers/corosync/default.nix b/pkgs/servers/corosync/default.nix
index df73fb9f48e9..257837f14146 100644
--- a/pkgs/servers/corosync/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/servers/corosync/default.nix
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 { lib, stdenv, fetchurl, makeWrapper, pkg-config, kronosnet, nss, nspr, libqb
-, dbus, rdma-core, libstatgrab, net-snmp
+, systemd, dbus, rdma-core, libstatgrab, net-snmp
 , enableDbus ? false
 , enableInfiniBandRdma ? false
 , enableMonitoring ? false
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   nativeBuildInputs = [ makeWrapper pkg-config ];
 
   buildInputs = [
-    kronosnet nss nspr libqb
+    kronosnet nss nspr libqb systemd.dev
   ] ++ optional enableDbus dbus
     ++ optional enableInfiniBandRdma rdma-core
     ++ optional enableMonitoring libstatgrab
@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     "--with-logdir=/var/log/corosync"
     "--enable-watchdog"
     "--enable-qdevices"
+    # allows Type=notify in the systemd service
+    "--enable-systemd"
   ] ++ optional enableDbus "--enable-dbus"
     ++ optional enableInfiniBandRdma "--enable-rdma"
     ++ optional enableMonitoring "--enable-monitoring"