diff --git a/BUILD.md b/BUILD.md
index 8e881385..8515528d 100644
--- a/BUILD.md
+++ b/BUILD.md
@@ -42,6 +42,10 @@ For Ubuntu/Debian systems, this might look like:
 sudo apt install make cmake libglib2.0-dev libcairo2-dev librsvg2-dev libfuse-dev libarchive-dev libxpm-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev libboost-all-dev qtbase5-dev qtdeclarative5-dev qttools5-dev-tools patchelf libc6-dev libc6-dev gcc-multilib g++-multilib
 ```
 
+## Options
+By default, AppImageLauncher is built for System-D based systems.
+OpenRC can be targeted instead by adding `-DSERVICE_TYPE="openrc"`.
+
 ## Build
 
 Please update the `PREFIX` if you want. The prefix is the location the final application will be installed to. Usual locations may be `/usr/local` (default), `/usr`, `~/.local` or `/opt`.
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 2fa21c65..764bcb0c 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -57,6 +57,16 @@ endif()
 # note: for the time being, we require AppImageUpdate to be fetched during build, even if only to make libappimage available
 FetchContent_MakeAvailable(AppImageUpdate)
 
+# choose what init service system to target (for daemon user service)
+# set by adding -DSERVICE_TYPE="<type>" when calling cmake
+# options: systemd, openrc
+set(SERVICE_TYPE "systemd" CACHE STRING "init service provider to target")
+if (SERVICE_TYPE STREQUAL "systemd")
+    add_definitions(-DSERVICE_TYPE_SYSTEMD)
+elseif (SERVICE_TYPE STREQUAL "openrc")
+    add_definitions(-DSERVICE_TYPE_OPENRC)
+endif()
+
 # install resources, bundle libraries privately, etc.
 # initializes important installation destination variables, therefore must be included before adding subdirectories
 include(cmake/install.cmake)
diff --git a/cmake/install.cmake b/cmake/install.cmake
index ee3de23e..3138efb1 100644
--- a/cmake/install.cmake
+++ b/cmake/install.cmake
@@ -89,14 +89,35 @@ if(NOT BUILD_LITE)
     )
 endif()
 
-# install systemd service configuration for appimagelauncherd
-configure_file(
-    ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/resources/appimagelauncherd.service.in
-    ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/resources/appimagelauncherd.service
-    @ONLY
-)
-# caution: don't use ${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR} here, it's really just lib/systemd/user
-install(
-    FILES ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/resources/appimagelauncherd.service
-    DESTINATION lib/systemd/user/ COMPONENT APPIMAGELAUNCHER
-)
+if (SERVICE_TYPE STREQUAL "systemd")
+    # install systemd service configuration for appimagelauncherd
+    configure_file(
+        ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/resources/appimagelauncherd.service.in
+        ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/resources/appimagelauncherd.service
+        @ONLY
+    )
+    # caution: don't use ${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR} here, it's really just lib/systemd/user
+    install(
+        FILES ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/resources/appimagelauncherd.service
+        DESTINATION lib/systemd/user/ COMPONENT APPIMAGELAUNCHER
+    )
+    message("Using SystemD service")
+elseif (SERVICE_TYPE STREQUAL "openrc")
+    # install openrc service configuration for appimagelauncherd
+    #
+    # the output file name will be the name of the service
+    # so it must be "appimagelauncherd"
+    configure_file(
+        ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/resources/appimagelauncherd_openrc.in
+        ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/resources/appimagelauncherd
+        @ONLY
+    )
+    install(
+        FILES ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/resources/appimagelauncherd
+        PERMISSIONS OWNER_EXECUTE OWNER_WRITE OWNER_READ
+                    GROUP_READ GROUP_EXECUTE
+                    WORLD_READ WORLD_EXECUTE
+        DESTINATION etc/user/init.d COMPONENT APPIMAGELAUNCHER
+    )
+    message("Using OpenRC service")
+endif()
diff --git a/resources/appimagelauncherd_openrc.in b/resources/appimagelauncherd_openrc.in
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..2ffa6273
--- /dev/null
+++ b/resources/appimagelauncherd_openrc.in
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#!/sbin/openrc-run
+
+#OpenRC user service
+
+description="AppImageLauncher daemon"
+supervisor="supervise-daemon"
+respawn_delay=10
+command="@CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX@/bin/appimagelauncherd"
+output_log="${XDG_STATE_HOME}/appimagelauncherd"
diff --git a/src/ui/settings_dialog.cpp b/src/ui/settings_dialog.cpp
index c2b451de..23e99533 100644
--- a/src/ui/settings_dialog.cpp
+++ b/src/ui/settings_dialog.cpp
@@ -157,6 +157,7 @@ void SettingsDialog::saveSettings() {
 void SettingsDialog::toggleDaemon() {
     // assumes defaults if config doesn't exist or lacks the related key(s)
     if (settingsFile) {
+#ifdef SERVICE_TYPE_SYSTEMD
         if (settingsFile->value("AppImageLauncher/enable_daemon", "true").toBool()) {
             system("systemctl --user enable  appimagelauncherd.service");
             // we want to actually restart the service to apply the new configuration
@@ -165,6 +166,17 @@ void SettingsDialog::toggleDaemon() {
             system("systemctl --user disable appimagelauncherd.service");
             system("systemctl --user stop    appimagelauncherd.service");
         }
+#elif SERVICE_TYPE_OPENRC
+        if (settingsFile->value("AppImageLauncher/enable_daemon", "true").toBool()) {
+            // enable service and restart
+            system("rc-update add --user appimagelauncherd default");
+            system("rc-service --user appimagelauncherd restart");
+        } else {
+            // disable service and stop it
+            system("rc-update del --user appimagelauncherd default");
+            system("rc-service --user appimagelauncherd stop");
+        }
+#endif
     }
 }