diff --git a/core/archipelago/src/main.rs b/core/archipelago/src/main.rs
index 8959cfde..6614493a 100644
--- a/core/archipelago/src/main.rs
+++ b/core/archipelago/src/main.rs
@@ -135,11 +135,12 @@ async fn main() -> Result<()> {
     info!("WebSocket: ws://{}/ws", addr);
 
     // Notify systemd that we're ready (Type=notify)
-    let _ = sd_notify::notify(true, &[sd_notify::NotifyState::Ready]);
+    // Note: first param `false` keeps NOTIFY_SOCKET so watchdog pings work
+    let _ = sd_notify::notify(false, &[sd_notify::NotifyState::Ready]);
 
-    // Spawn systemd watchdog ping (WatchdogSec=60, ping every 30s)
+    // Spawn systemd watchdog ping (WatchdogSec=300, ping every 120s)
     tokio::spawn(async {
-        let mut interval = tokio::time::interval(std::time::Duration::from_secs(30));
+        let mut interval = tokio::time::interval(std::time::Duration::from_secs(120));
         loop {
             interval.tick().await;
             let _ = sd_notify::notify(false, &[sd_notify::NotifyState::Watchdog]);
diff --git a/image-recipe/configs/archipelago.service b/image-recipe/configs/archipelago.service
index 45acc4c8..4301836b 100644
--- a/image-recipe/configs/archipelago.service
+++ b/image-recipe/configs/archipelago.service
@@ -12,7 +12,8 @@ ExecStartPre=/bin/bash -c 'mkdir -p /etc/archipelago && echo "ARCHIPELAGO_HOST_I
 ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/archipelago
 Restart=on-failure
 RestartSec=5
-WatchdogSec=60
+WatchdogSec=300
+TimeoutStartSec=300
 
 [Install]
 WantedBy=multi-user.target