diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 4c5b25b3e..0ec58ebd1 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -539,6 +539,7 @@ endif()
 include(LargeFileSupport)
 
 set(NEEDED_HEADERS
+    sys/signalfd.h
     sys/statvfs.h
     xfs/xfs.h
     xlocale.h)
diff --git a/daemon/daemon-posix.cc b/daemon/daemon-posix.cc
index e8b289613..7b4aeacfb 100644
--- a/daemon/daemon-posix.cc
+++ b/daemon/daemon-posix.cc
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@
 #include <assert.h>
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <pthread.h>
+#ifdef HAVE_SYS_SIGNALFD_H
+#include <event2/event.h>
+#include <sys/signalfd.h>
+#endif /* signalfd API */
 #include <signal.h>
 #include <stdlib.h> /* abort(), daemon(), exit() */
 #include <fcntl.h> /* open() */
@@ -30,7 +34,11 @@ using namespace std::literals;
 static dtr_callbacks const* callbacks = nullptr;
 static void* callback_arg = nullptr;
 
+#ifdef HAVE_SYS_SIGNALFD_H
+static int sigfd = -1;
+#else
 static int signal_pipe[2];
+#endif /* signalfd API */
 
 /***
 ****
@@ -63,6 +71,55 @@ static void handle_signal(int sig)
     }
 }
 
+#ifdef HAVE_SYS_SIGNALFD_H
+
+static void handle_signals(evutil_socket_t fd, short /*what*/, void* /*arg*/)
+{
+    struct signalfd_siginfo fdsi;
+
+    if (read(fd, &fdsi, sizeof(fdsi)) != sizeof(fdsi))
+        assert("Error reading signal descriptor" && 0);
+    else
+        handle_signal(fdsi.ssi_signo);
+}
+
+static bool setup_signals(void* arg)
+{
+    sigset_t mask = {};
+    struct event* sigev = nullptr;
+    struct event_base* base = static_cast<struct event_base*>(arg);
+
+    sigemptyset(&mask);
+    sigaddset(&mask, SIGINT);
+    sigaddset(&mask, SIGTERM);
+    sigaddset(&mask, SIGHUP);
+
+    if (sigprocmask(SIG_BLOCK, &mask, nullptr) < 0)
+        return false;
+
+    sigfd = signalfd(-1, &mask, 0);
+    if (sigfd < 0)
+        return false;
+
+    sigev = event_new(base, sigfd, EV_READ | EV_PERSIST, handle_signals, nullptr);
+    if (sigev == nullptr)
+    {
+        close(sigfd);
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    if (event_add(sigev, nullptr) < 0)
+    {
+        event_del(sigev);
+        close(sigfd);
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    return true;
+}
+
+#else /* no signalfd API */
+
 static void send_signal_to_pipe(int sig)
 {
     int const old_errno = errno;
@@ -142,6 +199,8 @@ static bool setup_signal_handler(int sig, tr_error** error)
     return true;
 }
 
+#endif /* signalfd API */
+
 /***
 ****
 ***/
@@ -207,6 +266,7 @@ bool dtr_daemon(dtr_callbacks const* cb, void* cb_arg, bool foreground, int* exi
 #endif
     }
 
+#ifndef HAVE_SYS_SIGNALFD_H
     pthread_t signal_thread;
 
     if (!create_signal_handler_thread(&signal_thread, error))
@@ -220,9 +280,14 @@ bool dtr_daemon(dtr_callbacks const* cb, void* cb_arg, bool foreground, int* exi
         return false;
     }
 
-    *exit_code = cb->on_start(cb_arg, foreground);
+    *exit_code = cb->on_start(cb_arg, nullptr, foreground);
+#else
+    *exit_code = cb->on_start(cb_arg, setup_signals, foreground);
+#endif /* signalfd API */
 
+#ifndef HAVE_SYS_SIGNALFD_H
     destroy_signal_handler_thread(signal_thread);
+#endif /* no signalfd API */
 
     return true;
 }
diff --git a/daemon/daemon-win32.cc b/daemon/daemon-win32.cc
index d60f8f7c3..7392b0e46 100644
--- a/daemon/daemon-win32.cc
+++ b/daemon/daemon-win32.cc
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ static DWORD WINAPI handle_service_ctrl(DWORD control_code, DWORD /*event_type*/
 
 static unsigned int __stdcall service_thread_main(void* /*context*/)
 {
-    return callbacks->on_start(callback_arg, false);
+    return callbacks->on_start(callback_arg, nullptr, false);
 }
 
 static VOID WINAPI service_main(DWORD /*argc*/, LPWSTR* /*argv*/)
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@ bool dtr_daemon(dtr_callbacks const* cb, void* cb_arg, bool foreground, int* exi
             return false;
         }
 
-        *exit_code = cb->on_start(cb_arg, true);
+        *exit_code = cb->on_start(cb_arg, nullptr, true);
     }
     else
     {
diff --git a/daemon/daemon.cc b/daemon/daemon.cc
index a82daf4cc..7c164b2f6 100644
--- a/daemon/daemon.cc
+++ b/daemon/daemon.cc
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ public:
     bool init(int argc, char* argv[], bool* foreground, int* ret);
     bool parseArgs(int argc, char const** argv, bool* dump_settings, bool* foreground, int* exit_code);
     bool reopenLogFile(char const* filename);
-    int start(bool foreground);
+    int start(bool (*setupsigfn)(void*), bool foreground);
     void periodicUpdate();
     void reportStatus();
     void reconfigure();
@@ -731,7 +731,7 @@ void Daemon::stop(void)
     event_base_loopexit(ev_base_, nullptr);
 }
 
-int Daemon::start(bool foreground)
+int Daemon::start(bool (*setupsigfn)(void*), bool foreground)
 {
     bool boolVal;
     bool pidfile_created = false;
@@ -748,7 +748,7 @@ int Daemon::start(bool foreground)
     /* setup event state */
     ev_base_ = event_base_new();
 
-    if (ev_base_ == nullptr)
+    if (ev_base_ == nullptr || (setupsigfn ? setupsigfn(ev_base_) : true) == false)
     {
         auto const error_code = errno;
         auto const errmsg = fmt::format(
@@ -937,9 +937,9 @@ CLEANUP:
     return 0;
 }
 
-static int daemon_start(void* varg, bool foreground)
+static int daemon_start(void* varg, bool (*setupsigfn)(void*), bool foreground)
 {
-    return static_cast<Daemon*>(varg)->start(foreground);
+    return static_cast<Daemon*>(varg)->start(setupsigfn, foreground);
 }
 
 bool Daemon::init(int argc, char* argv[], bool* foreground, int* ret)
diff --git a/daemon/daemon.h b/daemon/daemon.h
index d681e12f7..e598f90e7 100644
--- a/daemon/daemon.h
+++ b/daemon/daemon.h
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ struct tr_error;
 
 typedef struct dtr_callbacks
 {
-    int (*on_start)(void* arg, bool foreground);
+    int (*on_start)(void* arg, bool (*setupsigfn)(void*), bool foreground);
     void (*on_stop)(void* arg);
     void (*on_reconfigure)(void* arg);
 } dtr_callbacks;