diff --git a/docs/configuration.md b/docs/configuration.md
index 90eeaa7c1..d5e04ba37 100644
--- a/docs/configuration.md
+++ b/docs/configuration.md
@@ -729,7 +729,7 @@ registry.
 
 | Parameter | Required | Description                                           |
 |-----------|----------|-------------------------------------------------------|
-| `addr`    | yes      | The address for which the server should accept connections. The form depends on a network type (see the `net` option). Use `HOST:PORT` for TCP and `FILE` for a UNIX socket. |
+| `addr`    | no       | The address for which the server should accept connections. The form depends on a network type (see the `net` option). Use `HOST:PORT` for TCP and `FILE` for a UNIX socket. The `addr` field is only optional if socket-activation is used (in which case `addr` and `net` are ignored regardless of if they are specified). |
 | `net`     | no       | The network used to create a listening socket. Known networks are `unix` and `tcp`. |
 | `prefix`  | no       | If the server does not run at the root path, set this to the value of the prefix. The root path is the section before `v2`. It requires both preceding and trailing slashes, such as in the example `/path/`. |
 | `host`    | no       | A fully-qualified URL for an externally-reachable address for the registry. If present, it is used when creating generated URLs. Otherwise, these URLs are derived from client requests. |
diff --git a/docs/recipes/index.md b/docs/recipes/index.md
index 97d322698..3ffdba3b5 100644
--- a/docs/recipes/index.md
+++ b/docs/recipes/index.md
@@ -25,3 +25,4 @@ At this point, it's assumed that:
  * [using Nginx as an authenticating proxy](nginx.md)
  * [running a Registry on macOS](osx-setup-guide.md)
  * [mirror the Docker Hub](mirror.md)
+ * [start registry via systemd](systemd.md)
diff --git a/docs/recipes/systemd.md b/docs/recipes/systemd.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..99a0823d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/recipes/systemd.md
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+---
+description: Using systemd to manage registry container
+keywords: registry, on-prem, systemd, socket-activated, recipe, advanced
+title: Start registry via systemd
+---
+
+## Use-case
+
+Using systemd to manage containers can make service discovery and maintenance easier
+by managining all services in the same way.  Additionally, when using Podman, systemd
+can start the registry with socket-activation, providing additional security options:
+* Run as non-root and expose on a low-numbered socket (< 1024)
+* Run with `--network=none`
+
+### Docker
+
+When deploying the registry via Docker, a simple service file can be used to manage
+the registry:
+
+registry.service
+```
+[Unit]
+Description=Docker registry
+After=docker.service
+Requires=docker.service
+
+[Service]
+#TimeoutStartSec=0
+Restart=always
+ExecStartPre=-/usr/bin/docker stop %N
+ExecStartPre=-/usr/bin/docker rm %N
+ExecStart=/usr/bin/docker run --name %N \
+    -v registry:/var/lib/registry \
+    -p 5000:5000 \
+    registry:2
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=multi-user.target
+```
+
+In this case, the registry will store images in the named-volume `registry`.
+Note that the container is destroyed on restart instead of using `--rm` or
+destroy on stop.  This is done to make accessing `docker logs ...` easier in
+the case of issues.
+
+### Podman
+
+Podman offers tighter integration with systemd than Docker does, and supports
+socket-activation of containers.
+
+#### Create service file
+
+```
+podman create --name registry --network=none -v registry:/var/lib/registry registry:2
+podman generate systemd --name --new registry > registry.service
+```
+
+#### Create socket file
+
+registry.socket
+```
+[Unit]
+Description=container registry
+
+[Socket]
+ListenStream=5000
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=sockets.target
+```
+
+### Installation
+
+Installation can be either rootful or rootless.  For Docker, rootless configurations
+often include additional setup steps that are beyond the scope of this recipe, whereas
+for Podman, rootless containers generally work out of the box.
+
+#### Rootful
+
+Run as root:
+
+* Copy registry.service (and registry.socket if relevant) to /etc/systemd/service/
+* Run `systemctl daemon-reload`
+* Enable the service:
+  * When using socket activation: `systemctl enable registry.socket`
+  * When **not** using socket activation: `systemctl enable registry.service`
+* Start the service:
+  * When using socket activation: `systemctl start registry.socket`
+  * When **not** using socket activation: `systemctl start registry.service`
+
+#### Rootless
+
+Run as the target user:
+
+* Copy registry.service (and registry.socket if relevant) to ~/.config/systemd/user/
+* Run `systemctl --user daemon-reload`
+* Enable the service:
+  * When using socket activation: `systemctl --user enable registry.socket`
+  * When **not** using socket activation: `systemctl --user enable registry.service`
+* Start the service:
+  * When using socket activation: `systemctl --user start registry.socket`
+  * When **not** using socket activation: `systemctl --user start registry.service`
+
+**Note**: To have rootless services start on boot, it may be necessary to enable linger
+via `loginctl enable-linger $USER`.