diff --git a/man/rpm-ostreed.conf.xml b/man/rpm-ostreed.conf.xml
index d36ec185..42deabcb 100644
--- a/man/rpm-ostreed.conf.xml
+++ b/man/rpm-ostreed.conf.xml
@@ -63,11 +63,18 @@ Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
     <title>Options</title>
 
     <para>
-      All options are configured in the "[Daemon]" section. There are
-      currently no available options.
+      All options are configured in the "[Daemon]" section. Available options are:
     </para>
 
     <variablelist>
+      <varlistentry>
+        <term><varname>IdleExitTimeout=</varname></term>
+
+        <listitem>
+        <para>Controls the time in seconds of inactivity before the daemon exits. Use 0 to
+        disable auto-exit.</para>
+        </listitem>
+      </varlistentry>
     <!--
       <varlistentry>
         <term><varname>OptionName=</varname></term>
diff --git a/src/daemon/rpm-ostreed.conf b/src/daemon/rpm-ostreed.conf
index f9e0ff71..6fd39f59 100644
--- a/src/daemon/rpm-ostreed.conf
+++ b/src/daemon/rpm-ostreed.conf
@@ -3,3 +3,4 @@
 # For option meanings, see rpm-ostreed.conf(5).
 
 [Daemon]
+#IdleExitTimeout=60
diff --git a/src/daemon/rpmostreed-daemon.c b/src/daemon/rpmostreed-daemon.c
index b91014ff..0b43b373 100644
--- a/src/daemon/rpmostreed-daemon.c
+++ b/src/daemon/rpmostreed-daemon.c
@@ -30,10 +30,6 @@
 
 #define RPMOSTREE_MESSAGE_TRANSACTION_STARTED SD_ID128_MAKE(d5,be,a3,7a,8f,c8,4f,f5,9d,bc,fd,79,17,7b,7d,f8)
 
-/* let's not exit super fast; our startup is non-trivial so staying around will ensure
- * follow-up requests are more responsive */
-#define IDLE_EXIT_TIMEOUT_SECONDS 60
-
 #define RPMOSTREED_CONF SYSCONFDIR "/rpm-ostreed.conf"
 #define DAEMON_CONFIG_GROUP "Daemon"
 
@@ -65,6 +61,9 @@ struct _RpmostreedDaemon {
   RpmostreedSysroot *sysroot;
   gchar *sysroot_path;
 
+  /* we only have one setting for now, so let's just keep it in the main struct */
+  guint idle_exit_timeout;
+
   GDBusConnection *connection;
   GDBusObjectManagerServer *object_manager;
 };
@@ -313,6 +312,23 @@ maybe_load_config_keyfile (GKeyFile **out_keyfile,
   return TRUE;
 }
 
+static guint64
+get_config_uint64 (GKeyFile   *keyfile,
+                   const char *key,
+                   guint64     default_val)
+{
+  if (keyfile && g_key_file_has_key (keyfile, DAEMON_CONFIG_GROUP, key, NULL))
+    {
+      g_autoptr(GError) local_error = NULL;
+      guint64 r = g_key_file_get_uint64 (keyfile, DAEMON_CONFIG_GROUP, key, &local_error);
+      if (!local_error)
+        return r;
+      sd_journal_print (LOG_WARNING, "Bad value for key '%s': %s; using compiled defaults",
+                        key, local_error->message);
+    }
+  return default_val;
+}
+
 gboolean
 rpmostreed_daemon_reload_config (RpmostreedDaemon *self,
                                  gboolean         *out_changed,
@@ -322,7 +338,13 @@ rpmostreed_daemon_reload_config (RpmostreedDaemon *self,
   if (!maybe_load_config_keyfile (&config, error))
     return FALSE;
 
-  /* when we have configs, we'll read them in here */
+  /* default to 60s by default; our startup is non-trivial so staying around will ensure
+   * follow-up requests are more responsive */
+  guint64 idle_exit_timeout = get_config_uint64 (config, "IdleExitTimeout", 60);
+
+  /* don't update changed for this; it's contained to RpmostreedDaemon so no other objects
+   * need to be reloaded if it changes */
+  self->idle_exit_timeout = idle_exit_timeout;
 
   if (out_changed)
     *out_changed = FALSE;
@@ -467,7 +489,7 @@ update_status (RpmostreedDaemon *self)
         have_active_txn = TRUE;
     }
 
-  if (!getenv ("RPMOSTREE_DEBUG_DISABLE_DAEMON_IDLE_EXIT"))
+  if (!getenv ("RPMOSTREE_DEBUG_DISABLE_DAEMON_IDLE_EXIT") && self->idle_exit_timeout > 0)
     currently_idle = !have_active_txn && n_clients == 0;
 
   if (currently_idle && !self->idle_exit_source)
@@ -475,7 +497,7 @@ update_status (RpmostreedDaemon *self)
       /* I think adding some randomness is a good idea, to mitigate
        * pathological cases where someone is talking to us at the same
        * frequency as our exit timer. */
-      const guint idle_exit_secs = IDLE_EXIT_TIMEOUT_SECONDS + g_random_int_range (0, 5);
+      const guint idle_exit_secs = self->idle_exit_timeout + g_random_int_range (0, 5);
       self->idle_exit_source = g_timeout_source_new_seconds (idle_exit_secs);
       g_source_set_callback (self->idle_exit_source, on_idle_exit, self, NULL);
       g_source_attach (self->idle_exit_source, NULL);