diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index cf54368d..b03f3f69 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -40,9 +40,11 @@
 
 
 ## Unreleased
+
 ### Added
 
 * XDG activation support when opening URLs ([#1058][1058]).
+* `-Dsystemd-units-dir=<path>` meson command line option.
 
 [1058]: https://codeberg.org/dnkl/foot/issues/1058
 
diff --git a/INSTALL.md b/INSTALL.md
index 1ce5260e..ae0598d8 100644
--- a/INSTALL.md
+++ b/INSTALL.md
@@ -140,15 +140,16 @@ mkdir -p bld/release && cd bld/release
 
 Available compile-time options:
 
-| Option                               | Type    | Default               | Description                                    | Extra dependencies |
-|--------------------------------------|---------|-----------------------|------------------------------------------------|--------------------|
-| `-Ddocs`                             | feature | `auto`                | Builds and install documentation               | scdoc              |
-| `-Dtests`                            | bool    | `true`                | Build tests (adds a `ninja test` build target) | none               |
-| `-Dime`                              | bool    | `true`                | Enables IME support                            | None               |
-| `-Dgrapheme-clustering`              | feature | `auto`                | Enables grapheme clustering                    | libutf8proc        |
-| `-Dterminfo`                         | feature | `enabled`             | Build and install terminfo files               | tic (ncurses)      |
-| `-Ddefault-terminfo`                 | string  | `foot`                | Default value of `TERM`                        | none               |
-| `-Dcustom-terminfo-install-location` | string  | `${datadir}/terminfo` | Value to set `TERMINFO` to                     | None               |
+| Option                               | Type    | Default                 | Description                                           | Extra dependencies |
+|--------------------------------------|---------|-------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|--------------------|
+| `-Ddocs`                             | feature | `auto`                  | Builds and install documentation                      | scdoc              |
+| `-Dtests`                            | bool    | `true`                  | Build tests (adds a `ninja test` build target)        | none               |
+| `-Dime`                              | bool    | `true`                  | Enables IME support                                   | None               |
+| `-Dgrapheme-clustering`              | feature | `auto`                  | Enables grapheme clustering                           | libutf8proc        |
+| `-Dterminfo`                         | feature | `enabled`               | Build and install terminfo files                      | tic (ncurses)      |
+| `-Ddefault-terminfo`                 | string  | `foot`                  | Default value of `TERM`                               | none               |
+| `-Dcustom-terminfo-install-location` | string  | `${datadir}/terminfo`   | Value to set `TERMINFO` to                            | None               |
+| `-Dsystemd-units-dir`                | string  | `${systemduserunitdir}` | Where to install the systemd service files (absolute) | None               |
 
 Documentation includes the man pages, readme, changelog and license
 files.
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 7280a049..e6f4f530 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -252,7 +252,13 @@ if systemd.found()
   configuration = configuration_data()
   configuration.set('bindir', join_paths(get_option('prefix'), get_option('bindir')))
 
-  systemd_units_dir = systemd.get_variable('systemduserunitdir')
+  custom_units_dir = get_option('systemd-units-dir')
+  if (custom_units_dir == '')
+    systemd_units_dir = systemd.get_variable('systemduserunitdir')
+  else
+    systemd_units_dir = custom_units_dir
+  endif
+
   configure_file(
     configuration: configuration,
     input: 'foot-server@.service.in',
diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index 255ca0ae..0c660a75 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -18,3 +18,6 @@ option('default-terminfo', type: 'string', value: 'foot',
 
 option('custom-terminfo-install-location', type: 'string', value: '',
        description: 'Path to foot\'s terminfo, relative to ${prefix}. If set, foot will set $TERMINFO to this value in the client process.')
+
+option('systemd-units-dir', type: 'string', value: '',
+      description: 'Where to install the systemd service files (absolute path). Default: ${systemduserunitdir}')