diff --git a/changes/bug12731-systemd-no-run-as-daemon b/changes/bug12731-systemd-no-run-as-daemon
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f92e5aff00
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changes/bug12731-systemd-no-run-as-daemon
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+  o Distribution:
+    - Explicitly disable RunAsDaemon in the systemd unit file.
+      Our current systemd unit uses "Type = simple", so systemd does
+      not expect tor to fork. If the user has "RunAsDaemon 1" in their
+      torrc, then things won't work as expected. This is e.g. the case
+      on Debian (and derivatives), since there we pass
+      "--defaults-torrc /usr/share/tor/tor-service-defaults-torrc"
+      (that contains "RunAsDaemon 1") by default.
+      Patch by intrigeri; resolves ticket 12731.
diff --git a/contrib/dist/tor.service.in b/contrib/dist/tor.service.in
index 5d7670281b..1d52f622fa 100644
--- a/contrib/dist/tor.service.in
+++ b/contrib/dist/tor.service.in
@@ -4,7 +4,9 @@ After = syslog.target network.target nss-lookup.target
 
 [Service]
 Type = simple
-ExecStart = @BINDIR@/tor -f @CONFDIR@/torrc
+# A torrc that has "RunAsDaemon 1" won't work with the "simple" service type;
+# let's explicitly override it.
+ExecStart = @BINDIR@/tor -f @CONFDIR@/torrc --RunAsDaemon 0
 ExecReload = /bin/kill -HUP ${MAINPID}
 KillSignal = SIGINT
 TimeoutSec = 30