diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 27277dbd..75433104 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ all:
 install:
 	install -D -t ${DESTDIR}/usr/libexec target/${PROFILE}/zincati
 	install -D -m 644 -t ${DESTDIR}/usr/lib/zincati/config.d dist/config.d/*.toml
-	install -D -m 644 -t ${DESTDIR}/usr/lib/systemd/system dist/systemd/system/*.service
+	install -D -m 644 -t ${DESTDIR}/usr/lib/systemd/system dist/systemd/system/*.{service,timer}
 	install -D -m 644 -t ${DESTDIR}/usr/lib/sysusers.d dist/sysusers.d/*.conf
 	install -D -m 644 -t ${DESTDIR}/usr/lib/tmpfiles.d dist/tmpfiles.d/*.conf
 	install -D -m 644 -t ${DESTDIR}/usr/share/polkit-1/rules.d dist/polkit-1/rules.d/*.rules
diff --git a/dist/systemd/system/zincati.service b/dist/systemd/system/zincati.service
index 61b32dd7..979737fa 100644
--- a/dist/systemd/system/zincati.service
+++ b/dist/systemd/system/zincati.service
@@ -16,6 +16,3 @@ Environment=ZINCATI_VERBOSITY="-v"
 ExecStart=/usr/libexec/zincati agent ${ZINCATI_VERBOSITY}
 Restart=on-failure
 RestartSec=10s
-
-[Install]
-WantedBy=multi-user.target
diff --git a/dist/systemd/system/zincati.timer b/dist/systemd/system/zincati.timer
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b210c6a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dist/systemd/system/zincati.timer
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+[Timer]
+# Spreading things across 30 minutes should help
+# to avoid thundering herds by default.
+OnBootSec=1h
+AccuracySec=30m
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=timers.target