diff --git a/defaults/main.yml b/defaults/main.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..540a476
--- /dev/null
+++ b/defaults/main.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+mosquitto_pid_file: /var/run/mosquitto.pid
+mosquitto_user: mosquitto
+mosquitto_group: mosquitto
diff --git a/tasks/install.yml b/tasks/install.yml
index fe0b2d2..32f7052 100644
--- a/tasks/install.yml
+++ b/tasks/install.yml
@@ -14,3 +14,24 @@
   with_items:
     - mosquitto
     - mosquitto-clients
+
+- name: Copy systemd unit files
+  template:
+    src: "etc/systemd/system/mosquitto.service.j2"
+    dest: "/etc/systemd/system/mosquitto.service"
+    owner: root
+    group: root
+    mode: 0644
+
+- name: Create group '{{ mosquitto_group }}'
+  group:
+    name: '{{ mosquitto_group }}'
+    state: present
+
+- name: Create user '{{ mosquitto_user }}'
+  user:
+    name: '{{ mosquitto_user }}'
+    group: '{{ mosquitto_group }}'
+    system: yes
+    createhome: no
+    shell: /sbin/nologin
diff --git a/templates/etc/systemd/system/mosquitto.service.j2 b/templates/etc/systemd/system/mosquitto.service.j2
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2be56a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/templates/etc/systemd/system/mosquitto.service.j2
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+## {{ ansible_managed }}
+[Unit]
+Description=Mosquitto MQTT Broker daemon
+ConditionPathExists=/etc/mosquitto/mosquitto.conf
+After=network.target
+Requires=network.target
+
+[Service]
+User={{ mosquitto_user }}
+Group={{ mosquitto_user }}
+Type=forking
+RemainAfterExit=no
+StartLimitInterval=0
+PIDFile={{ mosquitto_pid_file }}
+ExecStart=/bin/sh -c "/usr/local/sbin/mosquitto -c /etc/mosquitto/mosquitto.conf -d"
+ExecReload=/bin/kill -HUP $MAINPID
+Restart=on-failure
+RestartSec=2
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=multi-user.target