diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 5f072b022..dbada38e6 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ all-test:
 install:
 	install -D -m 0755 -t $(DESTDIR)$(prefix)/bin target/release/bootc
 	install -d $(DESTDIR)$(prefix)/lib/bootc/install
+	install -D -m 0644 -t $(DESTDIR)/$(prefix)/lib/systemd/system systemd/*.service systemd/*.timer
 	if test -d man; then install -D -m 0644 -t $(DESTDIR)$(prefix)/share/man/man8 man/*.8; fi
 
 bin-archive: all
diff --git a/systemd/bootc-apply.service b/systemd/bootc-apply.service
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..64229ed96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/systemd/bootc-apply.service
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+[Unit]
+Description=Apply bootc updates
+Documentation=man:bootc(8)
+ConditionPathExists=/run/ostree-booted
+
+[Service]
+Type=oneshot
+ExecStart=bootc update --apply --quiet
+
diff --git a/systemd/bootc-apply.timer b/systemd/bootc-apply.timer
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4ad60cbbc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/systemd/bootc-apply.timer
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+[Unit]
+Description=Apply bootc updates
+Documentation=man:bootc(8)
+ConditionPathExists=/run/ostree-booted
+
+[Timer]
+OnBootSec=1h
+# This time is relatively arbitrary and obviously expected to be overridden/changed
+OnUnitInactiveSec=8h
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=timers.target