diff --git a/src/freedombone b/src/freedombone
index 6ece8e7a..8878c0a7 100755
--- a/src/freedombone
+++ b/src/freedombone
@@ -8032,7 +8032,7 @@ function install_blog {
     sed -i 's|social.facebook.*|social.facebook = ""|g' /var/www/$FULLBLOG_DOMAIN_NAME/htdocs/config/config.ini
     sed -i 's|social.twitter.*|social.twitter = ""|g' /var/www/$FULLBLOG_DOMAIN_NAME/htdocs/config/config.ini
     sed -i 's|social.google.*|social.google = ""|g' /var/www/$FULLBLOG_DOMAIN_NAME/htdocs/config/config.ini
-    
+
     # create a user password
     get_blog_admin_password
     if [ ! $FULLBLOG_ADMIN_PASSWORD ]; then
@@ -10288,7 +10288,36 @@ function install_sip {
         echo "SIP onion domain:$SIP_ONION_HOSTNAME" >> $COMPLETION_FILE
     fi
 
-    systemctl restart sipwitch
+    systemctl stop sipwitch
+
+    # Note: the existing sipwitch init daemon doesn't appear to work well
+    # so here we replace it with a systemd one
+
+    # remove the original sipwitch daemon if it exists
+    if [ -f /etc/init.d/sipwitch ]; then
+        rm -f /etc/init.d/sipwitch
+    fi
+
+    # daemon
+    echo '[Unit]' > /etc/systemd/system/sipwitch.service
+    echo 'Description=GNU SIP Witch, a SIP telephony service daemon.' >> /etc/systemd/system/sipwitch.service
+    echo 'After=network.target' >> /etc/systemd/system/sipwitch.service
+    echo '' >> /etc/systemd/system/sipwitch.service
+    echo '[Service]' >> /etc/systemd/system/sipwitch.service
+    echo 'Type=simple' >> /etc/systemd/system/sipwitch.service
+    echo 'PIDFile=/var/run/sipwitch/pidfile' >> /etc/systemd/system/sipwitch.service
+    echo 'EnvironmentFile=-/etc/conf.d/sipwitch' >> /etc/systemd/system/sipwitch.service
+    echo 'EnvironmentFile=-/etc/sipwitch.conf' >> /etc/systemd/system/sipwitch.service
+    echo 'EnvironmentFile=-/etc/default/sipwitch' >> /etc/systemd/system/sipwitch.service
+    echo 'ExecStart=/usr/sbin/sipw -f $OPTIONS' >> /etc/systemd/system/sipwitch.service
+    echo 'Restart=always' >> /etc/systemd/system/sipwitch.service
+    echo '' >> /etc/systemd/system/sipwitch.service
+    echo '[Install]' >> /etc/systemd/system/sipwitch.service
+    echo 'WantedBy=multi-user.target' >> /etc/systemd/system/sipwitch.service
+
+    systemctl enable sipwitch
+    systemctl daemon-reload
+    systemctl start sipwitch
 
     if ! grep -q $"SIP Server" /home/$MY_USERNAME/README; then
         echo '' >> /home/$MY_USERNAME/README
diff --git a/src/freedombone-upgrade b/src/freedombone-upgrade
index c1544085..0644f038 100755
--- a/src/freedombone-upgrade
+++ b/src/freedombone-upgrade
@@ -152,6 +152,11 @@ if [ -d $PROJECT_DIR ]; then
     fi
 fi
 
+# remove the original sipwitch daemon if it exists
+if [ -f /etc/init.d/sipwitch ]; then
+	rm -f /etc/init.d/sipwitch
+fi
+
 echo '
 
 ' | reset-tripwire