diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index 697c2a7..560d87c 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@
           packages = with pkgs; [
             bashInteractive
             cranePkgs.rustNightly
+            pkg-config
 
             cargo-bloat
             cargo-edit
diff --git a/magic-nix-cache/Cargo.toml b/magic-nix-cache/Cargo.toml
index e853dd3..0253343 100644
--- a/magic-nix-cache/Cargo.toml
+++ b/magic-nix-cache/Cargo.toml
@@ -7,11 +7,25 @@ license = "Apache-2.0"
 [dependencies]
 gha-cache = { path = "../gha-cache" }
 
-axum = { version = "0.6.18", default-features = false, features = ["json", "tokio"] }
+axum = { version = "0.6.18", default-features = false, features = [
+	"json",
+	"tokio",
+] }
 axum-macros = "0.3.7"
-clap = { version = "4.2.7", default-features = false, features = ["std", "derive", "error-context", "wrap_help"] }
+clap = { version = "4.2.7", default-features = false, features = [
+	"std",
+	"derive",
+	"error-context",
+	"wrap_help",
+] }
 tracing = "0.1.37"
-tracing-subscriber = { version = "0.3.17", default-features = false, features = ["ansi", "env-filter", "fmt", "tracing-log", "smallvec"] }
+tracing-subscriber = { version = "0.3.17", default-features = false, features = [
+	"ansi",
+	"env-filter",
+	"fmt",
+	"tracing-log",
+	"smallvec",
+] }
 tower-http = { version = "0.4.0", features = ["trace"] }
 serde = { version = "1.0.162", features = ["derive"] }
 serde_json = { version = "1.0.96", default-features = false }
@@ -21,7 +35,11 @@ tokio-util = { version = "0.7.8", features = ["io", "compat"] }
 daemonize = "0.5.0"
 is_ci = "1.1.1"
 sha2 = { version = "0.10.6", default-features = false }
-reqwest = { version = "0.11.17", default-features = false, features = ["blocking", "rustls-tls-native-roots", "trust-dns"] }
+reqwest = { version = "0.11.17", default-features = false, features = [
+	"blocking",
+	"rustls-tls-native-roots",
+	"trust-dns",
+] }
 netrc-rs = "0.1.2"
 attic = { git = "https://github.com/DeterminateSystems/attic", branch = "fixups-for-magic-nix-cache" }
 attic-client = { git = "https://github.com/DeterminateSystems/attic", branch = "fixups-for-magic-nix-cache" }
@@ -36,11 +54,4 @@ async-compression = "0.4"
 [dependencies.tokio]
 version = "1.28.0"
 default-features = false
-features = [
-	"fs",
-	"macros",
-	"process",
-	"rt",
-	"rt-multi-thread",
-	"sync",
-]
+features = ["fs", "macros", "process", "rt", "rt-multi-thread", "sync"]
diff --git a/magic-nix-cache/src/main.rs b/magic-nix-cache/src/main.rs
index f7f8d1e..fb97e3c 100644
--- a/magic-nix-cache/src/main.rs
+++ b/magic-nix-cache/src/main.rs
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ use std::io::Write;
 use std::net::SocketAddr;
 use std::os::unix::fs::PermissionsExt;
 use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
+use std::process::exit;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
 use ::attic::nix_store::NixStore;
@@ -33,6 +34,8 @@ use anyhow::{anyhow, Context, Result};
 use axum::{extract::Extension, routing::get, Router};
 use clap::Parser;
 use tempfile::NamedTempFile;
+use tokio::fs::File;
+use tokio::io::AsyncWriteExt;
 use tokio::process::Command;
 use tokio::sync::{oneshot, Mutex, RwLock};
 use tracing_subscriber::filter::EnvFilter;
@@ -111,6 +114,10 @@ struct Args {
     /// URL to which to post startup notification.
     #[arg(long)]
     startup_notification_url: Option<reqwest::Url>,
+
+    /// File to write to when indicating startup.
+    #[arg(long)]
+    startup_notification_file: Option<PathBuf>,
 }
 
 impl Args {
@@ -364,7 +371,25 @@ async fn main_cli() -> Result<()> {
 
     tracing::info!("Listening on {}", args.listen);
 
+    let server = axum::Server::bind(&args.listen)
+        .serve(app.into_make_service())
+        .with_graceful_shutdown(async move {
+            shutdown_receiver.await.ok();
+            tracing::info!("Shutting down");
+        });
+
+    // Spawn here so that post-startup tasks can proceed
+    tokio::spawn(async move {
+        if let Err(e) = server.await {
+            tracing::error!("failed to start up daemon: {e}");
+            exit(1);
+        }
+    });
+
+    // Notify of startup via HTTP
     if let Some(startup_notification_url) = args.startup_notification_url {
+        tracing::debug!("Startup notification via HTTP POST to {startup_notification_url}");
+
         let response = reqwest::Client::new()
             .post(startup_notification_url)
             .header(reqwest::header::CONTENT_TYPE, "application/json")
@@ -390,20 +415,23 @@ async fn main_cli() -> Result<()> {
         }
     }
 
-    let ret = axum::Server::bind(&args.listen)
-        .serve(app.into_make_service())
-        .with_graceful_shutdown(async move {
-            shutdown_receiver.await.ok();
-            tracing::info!("Shutting down");
-        })
-        .await;
+    // Notify of startup by writing "1" to the specified file
+    if let Some(startup_notification_file_path) = args.startup_notification_file {
+        let file_contents: &[u8] = b"1";
 
+        tracing::debug!("Startup notification via file at {startup_notification_file_path:?}");
+
+        let mut notification_file = File::create(&startup_notification_file_path).await?;
+        notification_file.write_all(file_contents).await?;
+
+        tracing::debug!("Created startup notification file at {startup_notification_file_path:?}");
+    }
+
+    // Notify diagnostics endpoint
     if let Some(diagnostic_endpoint) = diagnostic_endpoint {
         state.metrics.send(diagnostic_endpoint).await;
     }
 
-    ret?;
-
     Ok(())
 }